With the Grand Theft Auto IV trailer circulating a good six months before the game's release, NYC officials are giving the thumbs down. The Daily News has comments:
"It's despicable to glamorize violence in games like these, regardless of how far-fetched the setting may be," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.more ›
Last night, police officer Rory Mangra (pictured) attempted to approach a man smoking pot in Prospect Heights, but the man ended up shooting him in the leg. Mangra and his partner, Eric Merizelde, both uniformed but driving in an unmarked car, saw Kingsley Newland light up outside a beauty parlor at Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn. From the Daily News:
Mangra stepped out of the car to approach Newland, but the suspect fled, police said. Merizelde sped ahead in the car, hopped a sidewalk and tried to block the suspect's path.more ›
A NJ family was driving along the Staten Island Expressway when their minivan crashed into a tree off the side of the road. Highway police were able to save three young children, ages 2, 3, and 9, but could not save their parents, as the front of the minivan was "fully enguled in flames" according to one of the police officers in the Post. Arturo Lopez-Mendez and Christina Guardado of Elizabeth, NJ were killed in the crash, which occured around 4AM yesterday, but children David, Catherine (pictured) and Elizabeth were treated at Staten Island University Hospital for cuts and burns. A driver who witnessed the accident saw police up ahead and alerted them; the police were able to break through windows to retrieve the children. Police are still investigating the cause of the crash.
It's global leader week in the city, and many who work, live and travel through East Midtown know that as intense security and more traffic are evident (plea from the Mayor: "Take mass transit"), especially as the President will address the United Nations today. Yesterday, President George Bush and First Lady Laura attended a conference on global literacy sponsored by the White House at the New York Public Library, but the bigger question was whether or not the President would come face to face with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since Bush refuses to discuss Iran's nuclear program at the United Nations until Iran suspends uranium enrichment (though French President Jacques Chirac suggested that Iran doesn't necessarily need to suspend its program yesterday), people were atwitter at the possibility of a run-in.
That's what the NYPD is complaining about - the complete lack of cooperation from Busta Rhymes in the investigation of his bodyguard's murder during a video shoot two weeks ago. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly implied that Rhymes (aka Trevor Smith) was withholding information about the shooting of Israel Ramirez. There have been conflicting accounts as to where Rhymes was during the incident - he told detectives he was on set, but he reportedly told others that he was outside when it seems that Ramirez got caught in an argument between other rappers. The NY Times looked at the habit of those in the rap world to keep quiet during police investigations, lest they look like a snitch:
Busta Rhymes, 33, whose given name is Trevor Smith, faces a dilemma that is has a particular resonance to the hip-hop world. By remaining silent, he is angering the family of Mr. Ramirez and a good number of his fans. But if he speaks to the authorities, he risks harming his so-called street credibility, which is cultivated by many rap artists and demanded by millions of their fans. Yet even on some urban radio talk shows and Internet chat rooms, a growing number of fans have called his silence cowardly and amoral, and in New York, a group of ministers and anti-violence advocates have called for a boycott of his music.And in an interesting coincidence, a few hip-hop magazines will publish interviews with Rhymes where he claims he is "perfect"; the Post also reports that he slams "fellow New York rappers for becoming bogged down in a world of drugs and guns." In a world that models itself after the mafia (or at least ganster movies), we'd wonder if the various rap power brokers are having underground meetings for a stalemate to stop the madness.
Here we go again. It's probably just that with most of the news media's attention focused on Hurricane Rita metro reporters are trying to find an easy, catchy story, but to be honest Gothamist has very little patience for the non-story that is being set-up around the launch of True Crime: New York City. Let's review.
- Thank you, Politicker, for posting Anthony Weiner's campaign flyer to show how he's probably the "only candidate for mayor who will mail out a copy of his Bar Mitzvah photograph." The flyer also says Weiner "will be New York City's Middle-Class Mayor" because middle-class is no longer a twelve letter word. WNBC 4 says that the latest WNBC/Marist poll has Bloomberg soundly beating all possible Democratic mayoral candidates, leading Fernando Ferrer 16 points, C. Virginia Fields and Weiner by 18, and Gifford Miller by 20 points! This is the first time Gothamist has seen Weiner not be at the bottom; it must be the picture!
Peter Hayden, the Chief of the FDNY, will testify in front of the City Council today to make the case for why any emergency response protocol should be led by a joint NYPD-FDNY team, instead of the Bloomberg administration's current NYPD-led effort. Two weeks ago, Chief Hayden openly criticized the plan, calling it a "recipe for disaster," and it seemed that the Mayor's team sought to quiet Hayden by having only Office of Emergency Management head Joseph Bruno testify about emergency operations. This stirred up the City Council which then subpoenaed Hayden to testify, painting the Mayor as narrow-minded; the Mayor's team responded by saying the City Council never asked for any other officials to testify. Now Bruno, as well as Hayden and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, will testify, setting the stage for the battle for emergency command control. Hayden, a 36-year FDNY veteran with two sons and a son-in-law in the department, is the only one of the officials who actually responded on September 11.
This weekend brings Passover to New York City, and the City is ready: Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced a few initiatives to make sure Pesach is peaceful. First, security will be increased with more police foot patrols and security at synagogues; plus the police will patrol "sensitive" areas in certain neighborhoods. The City's Bureau of Consumer Affairs also wants to crack down on price gouging of Passover related items, so they're asking for residents to fill out this form. Finally, the Department of Sanitation will have more trucks available to pick up food in the pre-Passover/Chometz ritual - aka, ridding the house of bread products. Just think, these are pre-Atkins traditions! Perhaps this is an opportunity to do a little spring cleaning yourselves.
It's been a big subway week. Yesterday, it was announced that subway ridership is at a 50 year high, thanks to the advent of the Metrocard. However, the MTA still has that $600 million deficit. Subway expert and author Clifton Hood makes a very good point to Newsday, pointing out: "There's no rapid-transit system in the world that's not subsidized and New York's is less subsidized." The lack of subsidies is a point driven home in New York magazine's feature on the subway crisis we're almost in. The feature also has suggestions on how to improve the subway experience - video cameras, glass walls between the platform edge and subway car, universal fare cards - all great, but Gothamist feels these are too ambitious in its current unsubsidized form.
...It's not fair to the people, and it's not fair to me. I don't have enough money to buy a decent pair of pants right now, much less have the money to get them out. All I have to say is, these kids did what they did. I don't know anything. I wish I could change the whole situation, but I can't.Simmon says he told his children to go to the police, but police say that tips came from others who heard those involved talking about the crime. The police have been calling the earlier robbery and duFresne's murder "crimes of opportunity" - prompted only by running into the targets. Other police sources say that Fleming hit his head, spit and tore at his clothes in order to appear "crazy," perhaps in a bid for an insanity defense; he also allegedly "whined" while questioned and appear to be asleep when arragined.
The numbers are considered impressive because crime in the city was already considered so low for such a large population. New York has almost half the number of murders per 100,000 residents as the country's 10 largest cities.
In a lightweight story about the NYPD, the Post reports that a uniform trade organization says the NYPD has "superior uniform standards and programs," with clothing that is "highly functional, comfortable and manufactured to the highest standards." Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who is a natty dresser himself, French cuffs and all, had his press department whip up a statement, saying, "From the earliest days of the New York City Police Department, the uniform has functioned as one of the most vital tools an officer possesses. As a symbol of law enforcement and a clear form of identification, the uniform is unambiguous and indisputable." The Post describes the NYPD's recent cargo pants as being "Rambo-esque" and "perfect for carrying diaries, latex frisking gloves, and other essentials — or just looking cool on the streets of Brooklyn." The NYPD lost the powder blue uniform in 1995, when Police Commissioner Bill Bratton thought they looked like janitors; now the police wearing navy blue uniforms made from DuPont Coomax fiber.
With the convention winding down, the coverage is turning to examine how the protests and police have coexisted these past few days. The NY Times goes through the NYPD's tools of the trade when dealing with protests, and Newsday looks at how protesters are able to inflitrate Madison Square Garden, in spite of the GOP's best efforts, like yesterday's AIDS' activists who disturbed Andy Card's speech. Standard Deviance does some down and dirty research into who exactly was the protester that was arrested during Cheney's speech. Protesters are also taking responsibility for the theft of the American flag on the Brooklyn Bridge. The ransom note of sorts on indymedia demands that Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and President Bush resign in exchange for the flag. The Daily News points out "If protestors accomplished the theft, they would have to have been skilled climbers or crazy, or perhaps both."
Meanwhile, Newsday reports the MTA's top counterterrorism official as saying, "It's physically impossible to check every bag. In reality, the best detection that you have are the employees and the people who ride the trains." Now Gothamist has even more reason to be nosy on subway cars! Now, we will stare without shame, and even dare to rummage through the bag that someone has plopped onto the empty seat. Newsday also has tips on your encounters with patrol dogs ()
The Post reports that the New York City Marketing Development Corporation is recruiting different celebrities and NYC notables to explain why they love the city in order to develop ways to drum up tourism. A recent poll that the NYC MDC conducted says that "crime is still the No. 1 reason why tourists stay away," prompting the MDC to go to people like Russell Simmons (Phat), Sofia Coppola, Mark Messier, Dick Wolf, and Ric Burns (documentarian), as well as George Steinbrenner (Yankees), Danny Goldberg, David Stern (NBA), Nick Jones (SoHo House), Deputy Mayor Patti Harris and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and draw out what they love about NYC. The interviews are expected to be a part of a global advertising campaign that may include TV, outdoor, and tie-in books. Burns told the Post, "New York City is about as big a brand as you're going to get. The richness, the denseness of New York's intellectual, spiritual capital is so strong. New York's greatness is not that it is better, but that everyone comes here. Everyone is us." Gothamist agrees that NYC is great, but we hope that the voices of regular New Yorkers are captured, because a lot of NYers we know have great suggestions on what tourists should really see in NY. Then again, some may want to keep those at least semi-secret. But the least the NYC MDC can do is tell tourists to visit the other boroughs, the Noguchi Museum or Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.
- NYC's police force is the largest (37,000 members) and has the most cops per capita (one officer per every 215 residents), at a cost of $5 billion a year.
Every Mother's Son will air this August on PBS's P.O.V. Watch the trailer here. And filmmakers Tami Gold and Kelly Anderson have been making this film for the past few years.
The reason for rejecting the antiwar protest at the Great Lawn is because the Great Lawn has been renovated and only holds 80,000, while the protest might draw 250,000 (which is a staggering number). Gothamist wonders what 250,000 protestors would do the Great Lawn, which has been the scene of many performance and concerts - that would take a lot of Central Park Conservancy and Parks Department folks to clean up. This protest would have followed a march from Midtown (a permit for the march is still pending from the NYPD). For more information about the protest, check out the site from United for Peace and Justice.
Updated: kottke has photos from the NYC protest last year (thanks for clearing that up, Eliot).
Crime might have gone down in 2003, but this past week has been a doozy. First there was the horrific case of Nathalie Guzman being hit and run by three different cars - with none of the drivers bothering to stop and see if she needed help. Queens Councilman Eric Gioia felt that the three hit and runs had a level of "human callousness and depravity not seen since" 1964's Kitty Genovese murder (38 people did nothing as they heard and even witnessed Genovese's cries for help). The NYPD just found the one of the cars and drivers, apparently the third car to hit Guzman when she crossed Roosevelt Avenue.
In our book, 2004 started when the ball at Times Square dropped in New York City.
Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced that New York is the safest city in the U.S. for the second year in a row. NYC experienced a 5.5% drop in crime (after a 5.9% drop in 2002) a rate which the Daily News calls, "nearly four times lower than in Dallas, three times lower than in Phoenix and roughly half as high as in Philadelphia or Los Angeles."
–Murder has had a startling 69.6% decline over the last decade.Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly credits an initiative, Operation Impact, which redeployed more than 800 cops - many of them new recruits - into 21 high-crime zones, as what has helped the city crime stay down.
There are 38.6% fewer rapes now than there were in 1993.
Even felonious assaults have plummeted 70.1% in the past 10 years.
If you have ever complained about how tiny your NYC apartment is, think about the poor, poor 400 pound tiger cooped up in a Harlem apartment building. Police removed the 400 Bengal-Siberian tiger, Ming, from the apartment of Antoine Yates yesterday, calling in a police officer who needed to be rappelled down the building, in order to shoot the tiger with a tranquilizer gun. Also found in the apartment: A caiman alligator named Al. Officer Martin Duffy said the tiger charged at him, breaking the glass of the window: "I have to say I got a little nervous – I'm not going to lie." But he successfully darted Ming, who was later carried out by many people, from places like the NYPD, Bronx Zoo, Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty and Animals and the Center for Animal Care and Control.
Bank robberies are all the rage in New York, as the NYPD reports that bank robberies are up 148%. The Post reports that most robberies took place in Manhattan, and robbers' main weapons of intimidation (like bulletproof teller windows, visible video cameras, etc.) were threatening voices and notes. In order to scare banks into taking the NYPD's advice about robbery prevention more seriously, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly had police rank banks by the number of robberies:
