Results tagged “howstuffworks”

WABC 7 reports that someone has been holding hostages in a Bronx home since 4AM. The suspect is holding an uncertain number of hostages (WABC says there may be multiple hostages; Fox 5 says one) at 2445 Williamsbridge Road in the the Bronxdale section. One of the hostages may also be an off-duty corrections officer (the apartment is rented by a corrections officer). The suspect's relationship to the hostage and demands are unknown, but police...

A crane at One Bryant Park, aka the Bank of America tower on Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, reportedly lost some materials it was carrying. Curbed is reporting that the materials/debris/ garbage bin fell at least 35 floors - and it looks like a cab was hit. A Gothamist reader who works near the building writes:

Our windows look out at the construction site and it looks like some beams were dropped right onto Sixth avenue. No cars were crushed, but I couldn't tell if anyone was hurt or not (there were ambulances at the scene). Sixth ave is closed off north of 42nd and half of 42nd St is now closed, too. We've been told by our building management to stay away from the windows on the Sixth avenue side and the entrance to the building is closed - we're using a service entrance now.

We've heard that three people have been injured, but that hasn't been substantiated. CityRoom reports that some materials have fallen onto another building, which is being secured by emergency responders.

Yesterday, the man suspected of raping and torturing a 23-year-old woman in her apartment pleaded not guilty to the attack. However, police say that they have DNA evidence linking ex-con Robert Williams to the scene. The victim, a graduate student at Columbia's Journalism School, remembered that the attacker wore one of her T-shirts, which was thrown into a wastebasket, and the police have DNA from Williams' spit (he spat into a station house wastebasket).

If you've never seen what an exploding manhole looks like, WABC 7 has footage of a Friday afternoon incident in Sunset Park. It looks spooky, with flame shooting from manhole and puffs of black smoke. And the smoke is dangerous, because it contains carbon monoxide.

Yesterday afternoon, six adults and five children were stuck in an elevator for over three hours. The Fire Department was called to the Polo Grounds housing project in West Harlem when someone reported the elevator was stuck between the 15th and 16th floors.

A reader came to us with a problem. While she's lucky enough to have a nice Fort Greene backyard for grilling and cookouts, mosquitoes still view her and her friends as bait, even with a thick coating of anti-mosquito spray, anti-bug incense, and 7 citronella tiki torches.

Is there a mosquito-eating reptile or amphibian that is indigenous to the region that I could purchase and release into my backyard without upsetting the balance of nature back there? (Could a herd of a dozen toads or lizards from the Midwest start a harmful infestation of non-native species in Brooklyn? Far-fetched but possible? Wasn't there an episode of the simpsons about that?) Would I be releasing the bug eaters to a certain death? Would it be at all effective against my super itchy, blood sucking enemies?

Gothamist was intrigued, because we hate mosquito bites with a passion. We called 311 to first ask if it was against the law to have a toad or lizard stationed in the backyard to eat mosquitos; 311 said it should be fine, as the city doesn't regulate private property. We replied, "Huh, that's interesting, because we know it's illegal to have, say, a tiger in the apartment." So the nice 311 lady and Gothamist looked over the city's health code to see what animals were illegal. Some lizards, like the Komodo dragon lizard are definitely prhohibited. But there's nothing about other kinds of lizards or toads. But would toads be too noisy? We checked one website that said certain fish (guppies!) and bats were good mosquito predators; guppies might be possibility, but bringing a pond into the yard might attract more bugs - and then do you need a permit to add a pond?

The Daily News' headline pithily explains, "Doc looks in Braunstein's brain, sees psycho," as medical evidence is being offered from a psychologist about Braunstein's condition. Dr. Barbara Kirwin noted Braunstein had "systematized paranoid delusion and compromised ability to control his impulse," and that "Working in the highly competitive, glitzy and sexually charged atmosphere of a celebrity-driven fashion periodical was an extremely toxic and unsuitable environment." So it's the "I'm crazy because of the media" tactic! Gothamist is neither a doctor nor a lawyer (we're just an armchair physician-lawyer), but Braunstein run from the law, which makes it seem like he knew what he did was wrong, though the slitting one's throat to avoid capture is extreme.

Terrible, terrible accident in the Bronx in the middle of the night: A man's legs were severed by an elevator. The elevator, which was carrying 17 people, got stuck between floors:

That's when the man - who was not identified, but only described by cops as being in his 20s - was following two other men who had safely climbed out of the elevator to the lobby.

Continue reading "Elevator Severs Man's Legs"

We're hearing that there are many manhole fires in Tribeca - N. Moore, Hudson, Varick, etc. The rumor is that Con Ed lost a "feeder" - anyone who knows what a feeder is and how that might be causing this problem, please let us know. Also, there are reports of elevated carbon monoxide levels in a couple buildings, but it's unclear how dangerous they may be. WABC 7 did a story on the dangers of Con Ed - but only the getting shocked parts. For manholes, we're going to revist some links we liked from last year: How Stuff Works explains how manholes explode, Gothamist on exploding manholes and manhole tattoos; New York magazine on manholia (fear of manholes) and DC had a spate of manhole incidents - here's the Washington Post's manhole section.

Wow - three manholes exploded dramatically yesterday afternoon. Flames shot up from manholes between East 69th Street and Second Avenue and East 70th and Third Avenue, causing traffic diversions. Luckily, no one was hurt - just totally spooked, thinking that hell was indeed underground. According to Con Ed, manholes explode when the wires' insulation overheats. Yeesh - we wonder if the manhole covers flipped up or if flames were the main problem. At any rate, Con Ed and the FDNY had to check buildings for carbon monoxide (none had alarming levels).

there's an exit to Murray Street past Chambers!"). But we found a recent discussion about car clutches interesting:

Question: I have a 1988 Honda Civic with a five-speed manual transmission. The mileage on the car is 75,000 -- all short trips in New York City. A mechanic told me that I need to replace the clutch. I have my doubts, so how can I tell if I do need a new clutch? - William

Continue reading "Clutch Time for City Cars"

So, has anyone seen the lifesized cut-outs of men peeing in the street? Or the cardboard toilet seat covers on garbage cans? The Daily News said that the grassroots organization, The Privy Council, was starting a guerilla ad campaign to demand more public bathrooms from the city. Gothamist is all for more bathrooms in NYC, but we're a little concerned if people see toilet covers on garbage cans - we don't know if we'd be able to take seeing someone sit on a garbage can to take a dump. If you say, "Hey, the city signed a $1 billion street furniture deal that includes 20 public toilets," the Privy Council would laugh in your face: PC founder Steve Stollman (also known as the "peeing guy") told the News, "That's kind of a joke. "There are 18 million people in the New York metro area, and 20 toilets?" Yeah, the math totally sucks. Stollman does have an interesting idea of trying to make bathrooms at, say, a Starbucks, "more public" so there would be more ways to go to the bathroom; Gothamist's advice is to duck into a bar or Gap and beg to use their bathroom - proprietors are usually pretty willing when you threaten to pee on their floor.

Could it be? One year after some talk that the MTA was considering bringing smart card technology to roost here, the MTA is actually going to pilot test smart cards. So that $44 million put towards testing isn't going to waste! The goal is to have a "seamless fare card" that would be able to work against the MTA's systems (the subways, buses, Metro North), the PATH, and NJ Transit (buses and trains). Gothamist would love that idea - waiting on line at Penn Station for LIRR or NJ Transit tickets kills us, even at the machines. The Daily News says the agencies signed a "strategic alliance" to simply NYC metro area travel, which makes us yearn for a reality show with contestents from those agencies trying to navigate through their properties, The Amazing Race-meets-Survivor like. However, the pilot program won't begin until next year at the earliest...but then again, that's a few months for us to lobby the MTA to be part of the test.

Uh-uh

A woman is suing a Brooklyn dermatologist over an "unorthodox tattoo-removal procedure" that went, as the Post puts it, "horribly awry." Brooklyn derm doctor Morris Westfried allegedly talked Veanka McKenzie into using chemicals from China (uh oh!) to remove the tat, but what's left now is a black scar after her skin collapsed. McKenzie's tattoo was a "palm-sized, heart-shaped tattoo" and while the doctor might be at fault for a terrible tattoo removal job, Gothamist has to think anyone getting a palm-sized tattoo is partly responsible at the core. This is why people should not drink in the East Village - you never know what piercing or tattoo you'll wake up with - and the Tasmanian Devil is sooo hard to remove.

Okay, now that the link on how to hack an elevator has been on up kottke for a few hours, how many people have tried it? How many floors have you been able to bypass? Or have you noticed many more elevators passing your floor without stopping? Let us know the details and we'll compare notes.

A reader emailed Gothamist with this news:

There's a compact car literally stuck IN the street on Madison, near 55th street. Someone had removed the manhole lid, so this car drove over the manhole and its front wheel is now lodged in the hole. It's incredible!

And then, we hope, about twenty clowns came tumbling out of the car. Gothamist suspects that air was let out of the tire in order for the car to be dislodged, but if anyone managed to see or photograph this incident, let us know.

A manhole exploded in the Bronx last night. Luckily, no one was injured, though people were left without electricity and had to be evacuated because the carbon monoxide levels went up. Gothamist wonders if this is the start of the manhole season. Have you heard of any incidents recently?

Gothamist loves the NY Times article about the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge being too fat, because for a moment, we thought, "Hey, that's not nice, calling a bridge fat!" But then it was actually an interesting (and a little scary) look at how the suspension bridge is being re-engineered, with new technology and materials, to make sure it can support the traffic in the future. For instance, Robert Moses had engineers add concrete to the bridge; to stop the swaying (even though it was still safe), and in order for drivers to perceive it was stable, cables were added, which some people have felt ruined the skyline.

And, hey, what exactly is freezing fog, Weather Underground?

About 30 kids, ranging from wee kindergarteners to eighth graders, were piled up at the bottom of the stairs, 14 went to the hospital (none were admitted; most of the injuries were just scrapes and bruises, not including a new fear of escalators and movie theaters) and Loews was issued a summons. This reminds Gothamist of our fears of riding escalators; for many years, we refused to go on escalators, leaving us stranded momentarily when our relatives would think we were following right behind (it usually took a nice lady to convince us it wasn't scary). What's more, the escalator it happened on was the one that goes to the IMAX theaters from the second floor - the really steep and scary one. Poor kids, it's no fun for your face to be smushed against the angry metal grooves of the stairs; Gothamist is sorry for thinking it was funny (even though it does seem like a bad but funny movie).

Gothamist hopes you ring in the New Year in you favorite way, whether it's with a crowd or in a more intimate environment. And for the serious partiers, here's How Stuff Works on how hangovers work and what can be done to prevent them (drink water, take an aspirin, and drink Gatorade before sleep...).

How Stuff Works on how toilets works and there's actually a device out there to stop toilet overflows. And a hilarious take from the Columbia Spectator on Kravitz's current stage as a musician-celebrity.

Smart Card technology is already used in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, not to mention the PATH. And in Hong Kong, their smart card for the subway and bus systems, the Octopus Card, can be used to buy goods, like bread from the bakery by the subway station. How Stuff Works on smart cards.

Classic Seinfeld episode about Elaine changing her number and her horror at a 646 number: The Maid. Gothamist on having a 212 cellphone. And, naturally, Gothamist is intrigued by Tama Janowitz's book slated for a November release: Area Code 212: New York Days, New York Nights. And the FCC on Voice Over Internet Protocol and How Stuff Works break down how voice over IP really works.

Another thing we all to look forward to this fall: The Presidential election. We hope you're voting, and if you can, why not think about being a swing state volunteer? Two swing state resources: The Swing State Project blog and a swing State Project volunteer site.

The city is getting back on its feet after its rain legs were tested during yesterday's crazy downpour of water in a short time. The rainfall was at record levels in many parts of the city and surrounding areas and to put it in perspective, there was more rain yesterday than in all of August. Gothamist knew August was too good to be true!

How Stuff Works on how X-Rays work.

">City Council's first rumblings of this car alarm bill, right after the Mayor's noise reduction initiative was announced.

Citysearch has an editors' roundup of places for eat, or find a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan using Menupages. Also, NY magazine said Maroon's has the best margarita, Pampano the best quesedilla, and Bar@ Etats-Unis the best guacamole. Or, check out some Cinco de Mayo recipes from Epicurious and Tabasco. And learn how the day is usually celebrated, from How Stuff Works.