Results tagged “thenyc”

The NYC-DC bus fare wars have a new player: Greyhound division BoltBus will be launching service on March 27 and has started to sell tickets for as low as $1 (plus a 50 cent booking fee).

During his testimony for the defense, a former Suffolk County medical examiner said 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown was not killed by child abuse syndrome but by a single blow. In spite of her malnourished state and various injuries battering her body, Dr. Charles Wetli said, "If you take away the head injury from this child, there is no reason that the child should have died in that time and place."

Last night the first of two meetings to discuss the future plans of (the recently landmarked) McCarren Park Pool took place. The NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and architects Rogers & Marvel unveiled their plans and how they will spend Mayor Bloomberg’s $50 million. The initial press release listed: renovating McCarren Park Pool for swimming, creating a year-round recreation center, and preserving and restoring the historic bathhouse building and entry arch, as top priorities (based on a survey).

The NYC Medical Examiner's office says Heath Ledger's autopsy is inconclusive, citing the need to more tests. Spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said, "The autopsy is inconclusive and we have to do further testing which includes toxicology and tissue testing. We expect to have results in about 10 days to two weeks."

THEATER: Wolf Lane Productions presents Victims of the Zeitgeist (The Tragedy of Martin Luther King, Jr.), written & directed by Ellwoodson Williams. The production "offers an exciting and telling insight into just who Martin Luther King, Jr., was as leader and simply as a sensitive and intelligent human being who loved life and who had a sense of humor, a deep understanding of the human condition - its strengths and weaknesses - and a profound belief in justice."

On the front page of the NY Times section A, there was a photograph of some workers in Haoro, India and an article titled "New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India." And in fact, the workers are barefoot, bare-chested, bare-handed, and bare-headed as they work in an iron foundry, making manhole covers for Con Ed and other cities. The Times explains that a photographer, J. Adam Huggins, who works with the newspaper brought...

A report compiled by New York City Transit indicates that delays in on-time performance by subway trains have increased every since 2004. According to The New York Times, the delays are worst during the subway rush hour, when 8% of trains fail to perform according to schedule. The NYC Transit report cited track work as by far the largest cause of delays, as transit employees attempt to modernize or even repair the subway. But...

Yesterday, there was excitement over the U.S. Olympic Men's Marathon Trial being held in the heart of Manhattan and top three finishers Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein, and Brian Sell qualifying for the 2003 Olympic team. But the event was also tragic: 2003 U.S. Marathon champion Ryan Shay suffered an apparent heart attack 5.5 miles into the race and died. Witnesses described that shortly after 8AM, Shay seemed to fall during the course near the...

The ING New York City Marathon is just a mere 25 days away on November 4. The day before the marathon, the New York Road Runners Club is hosting the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the Men's Marathon. The NYRR has created a blog with videos and commentary called Chasing Glory. Today, there's a video of Abdi Abdirahman, the three-time U.S. 10,000 champ.

Students of all ages are headed back to classes this morning. The NYC public school system is opening its doors this morning all over the city. Insideschools reminds us there are 1.1 million students and 150,000 educators in the system - and that quite a few charter schools have been open since last week!

The supervisor on duty for the group of men at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station when track worker Marvin Franklin was killed by a G train has been demoted to the position of cleaner, in lieu of being fired. Investigators found that superintendent Lloyd London was the individual most culpable for the death of 55-year-old trackwork veteran Franklin, after he told two workers that he would stand as a lookout at the end of the station, but failed to do so. He also failed to instruct Franklin and Jeff Hill not to carry a heavy piece of equipment across a series of active tracks.

The NYC Transit Authority issued a report about separate incidents that led to two track worker fatalities in April. According to the NY Times, much of the blame is placed on an "organizational culture" where "critical safety rules were not practiced in day-to-day operations."

The NYC Transit Authority may not be able to figure out which subway stations to paint after more than seven months, but it's taken only two months to launch the report card initiative! Back in May, NYCTA president Howard Roberts Jr. said that he wanted to know what subway and bus riders thought of their respective lines and announced that the 7 line's straphangers would get first crack at filling out report cards.

Thank goodness for routine drinking water testing? The NYC's Department of Environmental Protection found higher-than-usual (and higher than what's safe) amounts of tetrachloroethylene, commonly known as PERC, in the drinking water of southeastern Queens. DEP investigators believe that the chemical might have seeped in from an auto-body repair shop or dry cleaners, because it's commonly used as a degreaser and cleaning agent. The agency is looking for the source.

The NYC Transit Authority, a division of the MTA, resumed all subway track and tunnel work starting today. All non-essential work was stopped after the second transit worker death in five days occurred on Sunday.

After two transit-worker deaths in five days, NYC Transit Authority President Howard Roberts wrote what the NY Times called an "emotional letter" to the thousands of transit workers.

Referring to his 20-year career in the United States Army, the transit president, Howard H. Roberts Jr., recalled the time he served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, where staying alive was a matter of following safety rules.

Continue reading "Transit Chief Takes Recent Deaths "Personally""

The NYC Transit Authority continued its investigation of Sunday's fatal accident involving a track worker and an oncoming G train. "Non-essential" track work has been suspended as the agency looks at its safety protocol. NYC Transit Authority president Howard Roberts suggested work should have been suspended earlier, given that another transit worker was killed last week, "If I had any idea we would be here this afternoon on this subject, clearly we would have started the process we are in now last week."

A number of immigration protests are planned for today across the country. From the AP:

Though this year's turnout will likely be lower, organizers say immigrants feel a sense of urgency to keep immigration reform from getting pushed to the back burner by the 2008 presidential elections.

Continue reading "Immigration Rally and March Today"

A subway transit worker was killed and another was seriously injured when a G train hit them at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Station yesterday afternoon. It seems that Marvin Franklin, a 22-year-veteran, was fatally hit when he and 37-year-old Jeffrey Hill went to pick up a dolly on another track. The G train's operator did see the men, but could not brake in time; Franklin was dragged by the train, while Hill was hit but is now in stable condition at Bellevue. From the Daily News:

The ill-fated workers were performing maintenance jobs in the station while the busy A and C lines were shut down for major track work.

Continue reading "Subway Repair Work Suspended
After Death of 2nd Transit Worker in 5 Days"

A new showdown between bird lovers and building owners may be brewing. Apparently the Shelburne Hotel in Murray Hill is taking down some vines that are supposedly eroding the building. But the Post reports that neighbors are concerned because American songbirds nest in the vine.

The NYC Parks Department is in in the process of replacing natural grass on many of its playing fields with artificial turf. The fake grass is plastic and laid over a rubber layer that softens the field. According to the NY Post, the Parks Department installed 74 artificial turf fields since 2002. 55 replaced natural grass and 19 were put over existing hard-top lots. Another 100 fields are planned for conversion to artificial turf over the next five years, at a cost of $150 million and an annual maintenance savings of $15,000 per field. We hope those fields are durable, because that envisions a 100-year investment timeline before the artificial-turf fields pay for themselves, even if the city is getting its money for free.

We love stories about public school teachers and sick days: There was the guy who wanted some time off to serve a jail sentence, the principal who was actually conducting an orchestra, and, our favorite, the teacher who took sick days when performing as a wrestler for the WWE. But we would never have dreamed that Lynne Stewart, the controversial lawyer who was convicted of aiding terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman while he was in prison, would even be involved in one!

Holy cow: An entrepreneur is looking to put hair-straightening flat iron "vending machines" in nightclub bathrooms. The NY Sun reports that with flat-hair-for-pay already a hit in London nightclub loos, David Ganulan has bought $50,000 of them from Beautiful Vending (the Scottish company that developed the concept) and has been talking to some very interested clubs. The NYC hair straightening might be priced at $1 for a 1 minute use (it's £1 for 90 seconds across the pond).

It was one year ago yesterday that 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown, previously starved and beaten, was murdered in Bed-Stuy - her stepfather and mother are currently charged with her death. On this grim anniversary, city officials and child advocates implored the government to increase resources in keeping with an increase in child abuse reports over the past year. Specifically, officials are requesting an increase in the number of Family Court judges and maintaining a healthy budget for protective programs. The NYC Family Court says that the number of neglect reports increased 163% last year while the number of reports of abuse went up by 63%. Although its important to remember that this is an increase in the number of cases reported and not necessarily an increase in the absolute number of cases. The number of judges, on the other hand, has held steady at 41 since 1991 leading to long wait lists for hearings, some lasting up to a month.

If you're in need of a fairly inexpensive holiday gift - or are a sucker for any cute NYC tchotchke - then look no than the MUJI New York City in a Bag at the Museum of Modern Art Store.

As irresistible to adults as it is to children, MUJI's New York in a Bag comes with nine wooden city structures and six wooden cars. Included are New York City icons such as the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Guggenheim Museum, and MoMA's original 1939 building . The wood is from sustainable forests.

- Lyrics from "On the Town"

City public schools allow students at high-poverty schools to take advantage of online tutoring, which the Department of Education contracts out to a number of firms. But now it turns out that one of the firms may be off the list of tutoring firms because it used tutors in India.

It's been three months since the MTA and Mastercard unveiled the contactless payment system that is mostly along the Lexington Avenue line. The system has been in trial, and now they have unveiled the next part: The NYC Mobile Trial. If you have a Citbank Mastercard with Paypass - and a Cingular account - you may be able to sign up and use your cellphone to pay your fare.

Tap your NFC enabled mobile phone on the payment reader located on the front of the turnstiles. The contactless-enabled turnstiles will have a payment reader featuring the green subway trial symbol. These turnstiles also feature a “Turnstile. Turbostyle.” Label at about eye level and a subway trial symbol banner across the top of the turnstile.

An article in the NY Sun highlights the NYC Audobon Society's efforts to prevent birds from flying into building windows. The NYACS "will attempt to determine what combination of conditions, such as types of glass and levels of nearby vegetation, lead to the most bird collisions." Many tall buildings have turned off their lights at night during winter migration, and now, it seems that some new buildings are trying to prevent untimely bird deaths: The Freedom Tower consulted an industrial ornithologist for its design (the World Trade Center had a history of bird deaths) - no word on whether he'll be called upon again for the other World Trade Center towers.