Results tagged “hurricanekatrina”

A number of NYC ambulance companies are sending trucks and crews to New Orleans as Tropical Storm Gustav continues to move towards the Gulf Coast. Citywide Mobile Response Corp. spokesman Isaac Newman says FEMA contacted them at 10 p.m. last night to deploy ambulances; Citywide sent five ambulances and 15 crew members on the road this morning. Right now, Gustav is expected to be a major Category 3 hurricane when it reaches Louisiana on Tuesday at 1 a.m., with winds at 115mph. The GOP may consider delaying their convention next week--or making it more low-key--because of Gustav. The White House is also debating whether President Bush should cancel his appearance at the convention, given previous criticism of his handling of Hurricane Katrina.

Yesterday, The Daily News printed an article that began, "A cop-bashing art exhibit at a taxpayer-funded museum in Brooklyn portrays the city's Finest as trigger-happy racists who have put bull's-eyes on the backs of black New Yorkers."

After posthumously leaving $12 million to her dog, Leona Helmsley is ready to spread the wealth with humans through her own charitable trust (created in 1999). Yesterday Christie's announced they would be auctioning off paintings, sculptures, furniture and other property from the late real estate mogul's numerous homes. Spokesman Rik Pike stated that each auction will take place this year, and "the collection reflects a sophisticated taste and a wonderful sense of style across a wide range of collecting fields, including Asian art, European painting and decorative arts."

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? We're definitely setting our DVR to record The Martha Stewart Show. She’s got a three great New York Italian chefs on today: Odetta Fada of San Domenico, Lidia Bastianich of Felidia and Del Posto, and pastry chef Gina DePalma of Babbo. On Tuesday she’s got cookbook editor Judith Jones, and on Wednesday, New Orleans chef Susan Spicer (Monday-Friday, 1pm, NBC). But the prime time highlight might be a...

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a home invasion robbery on 11th St. in Brooklyn, an unusual rescue on Selwyn Ave. in the Bronx, and a shooting on Rugby Rd. and Foster Ave. in Brooklyn.
• The 30-year-old homeless man charged with raping and torturing a Columbia student in her apartment in April was found mentally fit to stand trial.
• Negotiations between Thor Equities and several Coney Island boardwalk tenants are nearly settled, allowing many attractions to remain through next summer.
• New York magazine notes that NYC may soon receive a movie theater that has a no-children-under-the-age-of-six policy.
• Norman Hsu, one of Sen. Clinton's primary fundraisers during her run for the Presidency, is being charged by federal prosecutors with running a Ponzi scheme and defrauding people of tens of millions of dollars.
• A Brooklyn car salesman scammed rides on a fire truck with members of a Bed-Stuy firehouse after producing a forged letter and bearing stolen FDNY gear.
• Not getting too far by striking, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance is now suing the city to prevent the mandatory installation of GPS equipment in cabs.
• As he led cops on a 70 mph chase through the streets of Flatbush before allegedly shooting officer Dillon Stewart, accused killer Allan Cameron was watching a porn movie on the DVD player in his Infiniti.
• Best use of 9/11 in a new fall season program (so far): Kitchen Nightmares, when a Long Island restaurant "owner," upon Gordon Ramsay criticizing him about the state of a kitchen, "blame everything on me! Blame fires in Chicago, Hurricane Katrina, 9-11" (via Television Without Pity)

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

Two articles in separate sections of Sunday’s New York Times brought out Gothamist Food’s inner Freakonomicist, which isn’t as painful as it sounds. The National section of the Times reported that in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, its use as a baby name slipped down to the 382nd place overall on the girl’s list, marginally good news for those of us named Brenna (#381, baby). Unrelated, and over in the City section, the fate of the pink neon sign outside the East 12th Street Chow Mein house Jade Mountain was discussed; the 76 year-old restaurant closed three months ago, five months after owner Reginald Chan was killed while making a food delivery by bicycle. Now that Chan’s family looks for a new restaurant to take over the space, everyone is worried what become of Jade Mountain’s iconic, sputtering signage.

A NY Times reporter spent yesterday observing and experiencing the Reverend Al Sharpton's action rally at his National Action Network headquarters.

On most Saturdays, the so-called House of Justice on West 145th Street can feel as casual as the International House of Pancakes 10 blocks south. Anyone can walk in and take a seat. The words etched onto the large tinted window at the entrance, facing 145th Street, read not House of Justice or National Action Network but Diamond Gym, the storefront’s former occupant, which explains why the walls are lined with mirrors.

Continue reading "Reverend Al Sharpton's Saturday Routine"

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

We were just introduced to The Forms music recently, and once we were we immediately booked them for our show in Austin last week. Singer Alex Tween kept a log of his trip for us, which you can read below.

Through much of its history New York had a working waterfront. Be it for passengers, cargo, fishing, or ship building, warehouses and other industries, the waterfront was a busy, stinky, messy place. As a result the poshest residences were usually built inland, think Park Avenue. Since the ports are no longer used for industrial purposes there has been a rush to build along the shore. As discussed in a long article in Sunday's Times, maybe riverside condos aren't such a great idea.

Hayes Peebles is a 14 year old New York singer/songwriter. Along with his guitar, he carries with him the perfect amount of experience and innocence - giving his listeners a little of both through his songs. This week he'll be opening up our 11th Movable Hype show, give a listen: Gone Grey.mp3

Comix and South Toward Home bring together Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, Zach Galifianakis and Eugene Mirman for a benefit show in November. The stand up comedy charity event benefits South Toward Home, a non-profit organization created in response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

A month after a visiting teenager fell through a platform gap at the Woodside Long Island Railroad station and died, a 4 year old fell into a platform gap at Penn Station. Little Britney Walker, and her family, who moved to Long Island because their Mississippi home was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, were boarding an LIRR train to Huntington, and when Britney fell, her mother Terrian Walker had been walking right behind her, but she was pulling luggage from a trip. Their family friend Walter Casey tried to reach for her, but was shocked - of all the places to land, she landed on top of the third rail, though luckily on its "protective housing." The Post reports MTA cop Raymond Weingard as saying, "She was kind of like sitting on the third rail, on the guard rail. We were telling her not to move. She was crying, asking for her mother." The power was cut and Britney was recovered by a LIRR worker; she was also taken to Bellevue with only had some scratches and bruises.

A week after mentioning the lack of development at the World Trade Center when being questioned about the lack of development in post-Katrina New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin is in New York City to bring attention to his city's redevelopment needs. But first, Nagin had to apologize for his remarks on 60 Minutes (). From the AP:

"I want to say to all New Yorkers that I love New York City and have been here on many occasions," Nagin said. "We as New Orleanians and as New Yorkers understand what tragedy is all about and understand the difficulty of recovering from tragedy." He also said he especially regretted the term he'd used to describe ground zero, where more than 2,700 people died after terrorists piloted two commercial flights into the twin towers, causing the buildings to collapse.

Continue reading "Mayor Nagin: "I love New York City ""

Today is the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As the Times editorial today mentions, it's "time to heal and renew." NYC is trying to do its part. Various city restaurants working with Share our Strength to donate a part of tonight's sales to rebuilding efforts (the Shake Shack is included). And Brooklynite Lori Baker and Jersey Cityzen Eric Harvey Brown have created a book, Signs of Life, a collection of photographs of signs made after Hurricane Katrina. The photographs were found on Flickr, and the photographers donated them to be used in the book. The book's profits are going to Common Ground Relief and Hands on Network.

Curse you stationary front! Because of your unpredictable behavior, which makes your name a misnomer, Gothamist has had to revise our last two weather posts to catch up with changing conditions. You are a vacillating front not a stationary front! You moved south through town on Friday, took a weekend in Rehoboth Beach, headed north through the city last night before reversing direction late this morning. Staying to our south means the rainy weather will continue, but we won't get the unpleasantly warm and sticky weather.

Grouse? Yes, grouse. It's grouse season, which is quite brief, running from August 12 through the end of the month. To celebrate, Orsay will present Scottish grouse dinners as the first in a series of special dinners focusing on game and specialty products from Scotland (menus dedicated to partridge, pheasant and wood pigeon are in the works). The five-course grouse dinners include wine pairings with each savory course for $150 per person; call 212-517-6400 for reservations. 1057 Lexington Avenue at 75th Street.

The weather today is a near repeat of yesterday, which was almost an exact repeat of Monday and only slightly different from Sunday. Tomorrow, however, the weather will be different. How will tomorrow be different? It will be cloudy and cooler. It may not even reach 80. There may be rain tomorrow night, but there's only a slight chance. For Friday and the weekend the forecast is iffy. Oh, the weather doesn't look too bad, it's the forecast itself that's iffy. Cloudy and cool, sunny and cool and sunny and mild are all equally likely at this point! Gothamist believes the latter will occur but only because of our simple-minded optimism.

Congress is all about fraud stemming from September 11 relief efforts this week. A House oversight subcommittee has been discussing a number of programs which people not eligible for relief were able to apply for - and get relief. Sound familiar? Yes, it's just like what happened this past year after Hurricane Katrina. One notable example would be a program that gave people the option to buy new air conditioners, since their old ones would have been affected by the Ground Zero dust. Except many people who got money didn't even live near Ground Zero or even lived in apartments with central air! The AC program was budgeted at $15 million, but went to $100 million because of the many applications. With these hearings, and testimony from the Inspector General of Homeland Security, the House hopes not to repeat problems seen after September 11 and Hurricane Katrina; we hope problems leading up to those events won't be repeated either.

As London remembers the first anniversary of its deadly subway attacks, the Daily News reveals that jihadists were plotting to blow up the Holland Tunnel in order to flood lower Manhattan. The plot was apparently in the works months ago, with a "pledge" of support from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, with hopes, as the News puts it, "to drown the Financial District as New Orleans was by Hurricane Katrina." Well, given government response to floods, it's not surprising that terrorists would want to emulate disasters from nature.

- Fifty-eight percent of New Yorkers polled say they are prepared for an emergency that would require them to evacuate their homes and leave the immediate area for up to three days, yet 32 percent indicated that they don’t have emergency go bags ready with the necessary supplies to take with them. On the upside, 17% of people feel that they are more prepared than last year, so at least they feel good, even if they're going to be struggling in a waterlogged taxi. NY Times talks to a number of disaster preparedness experts, like 's National Center for Disaster Preparedness director Dr. Irwin Redlener, who says recent disaster have "not wake-up calls, but more like snooze alarms, where we get aroused briefly and then drift back to sleep." Fine - you got us: Gothamist bought a handcrank radio at Radio Shack, but we still haven't Ziplocked any cash or credit cards...we have a "maybe we're going somewhere" bag.

- Pets should be taken to the back of buses, and on trains they should be ushered away from doors, the proposal states.We think those dog carrier/purses count as cages, since the MTA just requests that the pets are in a closed container (like drinks!). And given that flooding would make subway travel an issue, we hope the Staten Island Ferry will relook at its rules for pets as well.

Before the September 11 attacks, the Vesey Street Staircase was seen and used by the public on a daily basis. Located near the intersection of Vesey and Church streets, it consisted of two granite-clad outdoor flights of stairs and an escalator that led from the World Trade Center plaza to Vesey Street. When terrorists crashed two planes into the Twin Towers, the staircase provided a path of escape for hundreds of individuals. The staircase now leads nowhere and consists only of concrete slabs and blocks, a few remaining pieces of stone cladding, and steel supports – but it is nonetheless an authentic and invaluable reminder of the World Trade Center that once stood here.

Those fancy shirt sleeves were rolled up as officials met over the crazy costs for the World Trade Center Memorial. And if there's anyone to speak about money, it's our billionaire Mayor Bloomberg, who the NY Times says gave the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation a "verbal spanking":

He chastised the foundation, saying the group had become obsessed with the design and construction of the memorial. "The foundation should be focusing on fund-raising," he said. "The agreement fundamentally was that the L.M.D.C. — the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation — would do the design, somebody would build the building and it would be run by the foundation, who would be raising private money."

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced today and the old Gray Lady takes three, but the Washington Post won four (criticism, beat reporting, explanatory writing, and investigative reporting). However, the real story might be the awards for Hurricane Katrina coverage, a public service award shared by the Sun-Herald in Biloxi and the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, breaking news photography award for the Dallas Morning News and a breaking news reporting awards fro the Times-Picayune.

James Thomas, a special education teacher in the Bronx, was arrested yesterday for claiming he was participating in Katrina related relief efforts when he was actually in Brazil attending a religious conference. Not just a teacher, but pastor of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx as well, Thomas used his position in the Air National Guard to fake documents in order to receive four days of pay. The teacher / pastor / lieutenant colonel was charged with forgery and larceny. He was caught and faced firing back in December. This is another example of the DoE cracking down on its own.

We're in the middle of a cold snap, but meteorologists want us to freak out about the possibility of a New York hurricane this year. AccuWeather believes that New York City is overdue for a hurricane, given "current cycle of storms, pressure systems and above-normal water temperatures in the Atlantic." (The 1938 Hurricane just missed NYC, but hit Long Island, killing hundreds.) After Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Bloomberg said that Office of Emergency Management would be able to handle a hurricane, but the OEM is reviewing the plan from head to toe. You can see the OEM's hurricane and coastal storm information here and find out which evacuation zone you live in. Of course, areas that New Yorkers flock to on the shore, like the Hamptons and Fire Island are even more vulnerable. Gothamist thinks the only way to freak out is to demand the city explain what its plans are - we hope there are some town hall type community meetings planned.

"I grew up in Brooklyn—first in Crown Heights and then we moved to Cobble Hill," Mr. Lee said. "My late mother had the vision to say, 'We should buy a home.' We were one of the first people to buy a brownstone in Fort Greene—this was when the getting was good," he said. "Back then, Atlantic Avenue divided Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights like opposite sides of the train tracks. Now when you see young white professionals walking down Myrtle Avenue," he cracked up, "there are white linen tables on the sidewalk! I never would have thunk it."Who knew sidewalk dining could be so funny? Spike is promoting his new film, The Inside Man, which does have an irresistible combination of Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen and NYC (the posters, which are crisp and graphic, help).