Results tagged “thedept”

Disagreements over building a waste transfer station along the waterfront of Gravesend Bay in Brooklyn raised the possibility of dredging up more than just your standard pollution because possibly hundreds of tons of high explosives may be lurking underneath!

The Dept. of Homeland Security is funding the installation of a number of anti-missile defense systems on commercial jets flying in and out of JFK Airport. The tests are the third stage of testing of a system that is already used by military aircraft. The defense system consists of equipment affixed to the bottom of the aircraft that electronically jams the heat-seeking component of shoulder filed missiles. The latter are referred to as man portable air defense systems, or MANPADs. The current test of the anti-MANPAD systems on jets is to see how the equipment holds up on the real world operating conditions of a commercial jet.

Architect Robert Woo is hospitalized but in stable condition today after the construction trailer he was working in was crushed by a load of falling steel that a crane dropped. The crane was elevating the steel at the site of the new Goldman Sachs building at the World Trade Center. The accident occurred yesterday morning when a nylon sling snapped and seven tons of steel fell 25 stories. Woo was the only person injured in the incident at 200 Vesey St. He was pulled from the wrecked trailer dazed and bleeding from his mouth.

After receiving a dispensation from city officials last month to remain open until the end of their traditional season, the Red Hook Ball Field vendors are serving up their South and Central American and Mexican fare today and tomorrow for the last time this year. Whether they will return next spring is an open question. This summer the Parks Dept. proposed opening bidding for vending concessions at the fields, which would push most of the present vendors from the scene. Offering indigenous Latin American fare at low prices, there is little chance any of the vendors would be able to outbid a better capitalized organization.

The Dept. of Education is claiming that it was simply a mix-up in recordkeeping that led to a failure to hand over a few hundred cases of abuse and misconduct that occurred on city school buses when the Daily News was investigating chaotic situations as kids rode to and from school. Six months ago, the News began a series of articles titled "School Bus Disgrace," detailing the horrors kids face when dealing with bus drivers and monitors. The Dept. of Education recently handed over another 225 complaints that the News alleges it was hiding to keep safety numbers artificially low.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a possible abduction at the Mobil gas station off the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, a suspicious death on Cornelia St. in Queens, and a pedestrian struck at Buffalo St. and Hylan Blvd. on Staten Island.
• The Dept. of Buildings declined to revoke permits for Donald Trump's planned 46-story Trump SoHo "hotel" on Spring St. near the Holland Tunnel.
• A State Bridge Task Force completed its inspection of New York's 49 steel deck-truss bridges and found them all to be structurally sound. Still, a bill before the Senate to boost federal spending on bridge maintenance would direct 10% of a $1 billion increase, or $100 million, to New York State.
• A Coast Guard vessel conducting a routine homeland security patrol came upon a 27-year-old man treading water without a life jacket about 400 yards southeast of Staten Island's South Beach.
• Gridskipper has a guide to establishments that brew, distill, and ferment all kinds of potent potables right here in NYC.
• The Gowanus Lounge reports that an F train express line could arrive as early as next year. Or maybe around 2012 or early 2013.
• The New York Times describes the run of the vintage six-car 'A' train yesterday on the line's 75th anniversary.
• IvyGate reports that bars surrounding Columbia University will all be getting ID scanners to keep out underage patrons, and Columbia itself will be picking up the tab for the devices.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a two alarm fire at 80 Washington St in Lower Manhattan; an aircraft emergency at JFK this morning; two pedestrians struck on E. 53rd St.; and a "possible A.I. job" (whatever that is) in Woodhaven.
• The NYCLU objected yesterday to the number of cases the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated. The board, which investigates police misconduct, only substantiated 5% of the cases, but that's actually higher than that of Washington D.C. and San Francisco.
• A 64-year-old Gambino capo was given a 15 year sentence for orchestrating the murders of a couple that robbed his social club. No news on whether Dominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia, who has 6 grandchildren, lectured the judge on how they did things in his day.
• Mom and pop may have it a little easier if the City Council gets its way. They are examining the idea of giving tax breaks to small businesses hoping to "preserve neighborhood character," something that Mayor Bloomberg may not sign if it gets to him.
• Judith Zuk, the former president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, passed away over the weekend due to breast cancer. She served as president from 1990 until her retirement in 2005.
• Red Hook vendors and area eaters have lucked out. The Dept. of Parks and Recreation are letting the food vendors remain through October 21st when they traditionally end their season. New rules are expected to be laid out in the Fall that may prevent the vendors from returning next year.
• The hottest ticket in town? Not Oprah, not the US Open, but J.K. Rowling. She's coming to New York to read at Carnegie Hall for 1,600 lucky kids from NYC's public schools. She'll also be signing books and answering questions about the series to the lucky students. No tickets are available to the public.
• And coming to your computer - MTV is building "music world" a virtual Brooklyn and Lower East Side that replicates "hip" clubs. Bonus: no need to dress up while sitting at home late at night in front of the computer.

The Dept. of Sanitation has proposed doubling the fines for those who fail to pick up after their defecating dogs from $100 to $200. The Daily News reports that Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty said that since the introduction of the pooper scooper law in 1978, the city has been issuing about 1,000 fines annually. If only New Yorkers could be deputized to issue fines!

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Sutter Ave. in Brooklyn, a water rescue off the Breezy Point Jetty in Queens, and a missing child on East 178th St. in the Bronx.
• Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is upset that Coney Island native and Knicks star Stephon Marbury donated 3,000 pairs of his new Starbury basketball shoes to male high school basketball teams, while ignoring the female players.
• The Brooklyn Paper reports that the Lincoln Plaza Hotel, which was advertised as a bed and breakfast but in reality was a by-the-hour brothel, is being renovated into luxury condos. Well-heeled eventual residents should not be expecting a welcome wagon, because neighbors are complaining they'd rather have a whorehouse on their street than rich condo-owners.
• Leona Helmsley moved into her final residence today: a 1,300 square foot space that featues stained glass windows with skyline views and 12 granite columns. The mausoleum is located in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Westchester.
• The Dept. of Health reported that of the 800,000 smoking New Yorkers who tried to quit the habit in the last year, only 17% were successful. Quitting aids like nicotine gum and patches will be distributed at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal Tuesdays through Thursdays from 3pm to 6pm for the next five weeks.
• The Gowanus Lounge has an update on the state of negotiations between vendors at the Red Hook ballfields and the Dept. of Health.
• SPIN has a page of photos and video of this summer's McCarren Park Pool Party concert.
• The manufacturers of Krasdale Gravy dry dog food are saying that some of their 5 lb. bags of dog food may be contaminated with salmonella. They are instructing to toss the food out and bring the bags back to the point of purchase for a refund. The tainted food was sold in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania and the packaging has the UPC code 7513062596.

The doctor we wrote about Friday, who was connected to three separate cases of patients infected with hepatitis C, apparently has a less-than-stellar reputation. Dr. Brian Goldweber had his medical license suspended for three years in 1999 after he "botched" anesthesia in several patients and altered records in one case, according to the New York Post. The Dept. of Health has contacted approximately 4,500 patients of Goldweber to recommend they get tested for infectious diseases. One of the patients who received the letter commented after our earlier piece and said that the letter was "super vague."

The Dept. of Education released its list of where 8th Graders are choosing to attend high school and apparently Queens is the place to be in the fall of '07. Townsend Harris High received the largest number (3,452) of incoming freshmen applicants listing the school as their first choice for the next academic year. According to the NY Post City schools and their students aren't bound by geography. 8th Graders are asked to list their 12 most-preferred schools they'd like to attend and then they are assigned a high school. The high school matching program is separate from the admissions process to the city's nine specialized schools, where 27,000 students took an exam to gain entrance to schools like Bronx Science and Stuyvesant that have a total of 5,500 seats.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Lenox Ave. in Manhattan, a shooting on Farragut Rd. in Brooklyn, and a home invasion robbery on 84th St. in Queens.
• The City honored Jay-Z's mom, Gloria Carter, today for her work overseeing the Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund, a college-oriented educational charity that helps disadvantaged and non-traditional students.
• A Queens man, already under arrest for threatening a police officer with a gun in front of the officer's children, multiplied his troubles by attempting to hire a hitman to kill that cop before he could testify. The would-be hitman is now also under arrest.
• After robbing a bishop of $1,500 at gunpoint in his Queens church, one of three thieves returned to the neighborhood to target the pizza place next door to the church, where he proceeded to rob an old lady while beating her with her own cane. He was stopped by an off-duty cop and held for arrest.
• Stock up on or increase the use of those subway-themed condoms while you have the chance, because the city's health commissioner will stop distributing them unless New Yorkers pick up the pace and start justifying the program. Get busy people; those condoms aren't going to use themselves.
• Former NYSE chairman Dick Grasso got four counts closer to winning his court case to keep his full compensation package, after a judge ruled in his favor on technical issues.
• Organizers of PrideFest and the city are fighting over which gay-friendly neighborhood should host the post-parade bash. The city wants to keep the event in the West Village and organizers want to move to Chelsea.
• The Dept. of Education found a temporary home for the Khalil Gibran International Academy next year. The school will be split between existing schools approximately 12 blocks apart in Park Slope.

Few things get NYC parents more antsy than making sure their children get into the "right" school. And whether it means camping out for days to get into a public school or forcing the mightiest Wall Street tycoon to corrupt himself in addition to forking over millions to reserve a spot in a private sandbox, getting into the school of one's choice can make applying to Harvard look like child's play. The dream of acceptance, however, can prove to be a chimera, at least to some parents of pre-kindergardeners who might not make it all the way to the show, prime time, the big leagues: Kindergarten.

Neighbors said that the non-working light had been an on-going issue for more than two years. DOT workers fixed the light in 10 to 15 minutes once the accident scene was cleared. And we're getting tired of cutting and pasting this into posts: "There were no charges filed against the driver, cops said."