Results tagged “whitecastle”

A man accused of beating an off-duty police officer during a 2006 fight at a Bronx White Castle was acquitted of assault charges. Daryl Massey, who had pleaded not guilty, insisted he never touched officer Eric Hernandez. Hernandez, who was taunted and beaten by a gang at the fast food restaurant, had drawn a gun and did not drop it when a responding officer asked him to. The responding officer fired at Hernandez, who later died of his injuries. A jury deliberated for three days before coming to their verdict. Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said, "We are outraged and disappointed that this cowardly thug who was part of a wolf pack that attacked officer Hernandez and set into motion a chain of events that led to the officer's tragic death will not be held responsible for his crime. Everyone who participated in any part of this unwarranted and brutal attack shares the responsibility for the death of a good police officer and deserves prison time as a result."

A month ago, when news that a 79 year-old classic burger restaurant in Toledo – the last in town of a defunct chain called White Tower – was being sold for $1 (on condition the buyer moves it off the property where it sits), a reader of A Hamburger Today seized the opportunity to play matchmaker with a NY restaurateur. “Danny Meyer? Paging Danny Meyer?!” wrote the commenter.

There was a smorgasbord of inter-borough hamburger love last night at the chandelier-bedazzled Astoria World Manor in Queens for the inaugural Burger Battle of the Boroughs. Representing good taste in general at event sponsor Pat LaFrieda Meats's table, Seymour Burton chef de cuisine (and non-competitor) Josh Shuffman cooked the restaurant’s signature burger for spectators while the event was judged.

Imagine that final beach scene in Planet of the Apes, but substitute every small patch of sand for a chain restaurant and that’ll give you an idea of where the NY restaurant scene might be heading – all blown up, with Charlton Heston eventually smashing his fists into a huge pile of thermal cardboard coffee cup sleeves instead of foamy surf.

Santa came early and dumped some carnivorous coal down the throats of vegetarians in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood this weekend. The NY Press has reported that the beloved Veggie Castle – so named because it was converted from an old White Castle fast food restaurant – has abruptly closed. The Veggie Castle was as famous for repurposing the White Castle as it was for its vegetarian twist on Caribbean classics, offering such delicacies as jerk tofu, curried tofu and a steaming vegan soul food buffet.

EVENT: White Castle is sponsoring an "over the top" (heh) event today at Port Authority...it's the 30th Annual White Castle Empire State Golden Arm Tournament of Champions. Over 100 ladies and gents will face off to become the arm wrestling champ! The event starts at 12:30 and the finals begin at 3:30pm. More info here. 12:30 and 3:30pm // Port Authority Bus Terminal [North Wing/Main Concourse at 625 8th Ave] // Free MUSIC: The Scotland...

It was reported last week that the 71 year-old Hartsdale, Westchester Carvel -- the very first outpost of the ice cream shop -- will likely be demolished at the end of next summer to make room for businesses that presumably make more money. Yes, the 68% milkfat solid, sidereal softy known as Cookie Puss is crying tiny crunchy tears as we speak; Flying Saucers are slowing down for their final approach. While the building’s current location is the site of the original Carvel store, the fact that it has been renovated over the years to look more retro apparently complicates bids for historic preservation. Tom Carvel, the chain’s gravelly voiced founder who also used to narrate its television commercials (vintage WPIX, anyone?) once lived with his wife Agnes in quarters behind the shop.

In the masses of offerings at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, there's quite a few strong New York-centric selections both in and out of competition to seek out. Granted at $25-$14 per, tickets for the festival don't come cheap, so if you're going to see something at the fest make it a local joint.

Some other repertory selections of note playing around town this weekend include a B Musicals series at Film Forum, midnight screenings of David Lynch's delightfully perplexing at the Sunshine, both on Friday and Saturday nights. A Crave Case will not be included in the price of admission.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A carbon monoxide incident in Queens, a fatal jumper down in Manhattan, and number of stabbings in the Bronx
• Congratulations to the same-sex couples who are planning civil unions right after midnight tonight in NJ.
• Gowanus Lounge calls Ikea's public attitude about the destruction of historical records from the Todd Shipyard in Red Hook "nothing short of disdain and matter-of-fact dismissal"

Red Alligator, by Soupflowers.

Hopefully you’ve got your party stocked and ready to go for the game tonight. We’re getting ready to fake some real enthusiasm here, and we hope you can muster it, too. But if you really couldn’t care less about the game, hopefully you can put all that spirit into the food.

In the wake of a judge dismissing charges daredevil Jeb Corliss for his attempted jump off the Empire State Building, Mayor Bloomberg is very upset.

"If I understand the ruling, just from reading the headlines, the judge said the guy did nothing wrong and should be able to jump off buildings with a single bound or whatever - I don't know where the judge is coming from. Whether it's legal, that's up to the court system to decide. But we do not need people jumping off of tall buildings in New York City - certainly [not] without a permit."

- Stephanie Adams' cabby says she's a vampire!

The defense attorney of one of the men accused of beating up an off-duty police officer says his client will be cleared. Police Officer Eric Hernandez so badly injured when a group of men beat him at a White Castle that he was seemingly unable to hear an on-duty police officer's request for him to lower his gun, only the other officer to shoot him. The Bronx DA released footage of an interview with the three men who were allegedly harrassing a White Castle employee, only for Hernandez to intervene and a fight to start. Edwin Rivera said that Hernandez never identified himself as a police officer, and then showed he had a gun:

“He’s looking around, and he’s eating his french fries, looking around like he’s about to do something. So that’s when I came and I hit him, and then I threw him to the side — and I didn’t think that all my friends was going to jump in and start kicking.”

Jay Smooth caught this quintessentially cheesy moment at Joe's on Bleecker Street on Sunday. Improbably, Adam Kuban from SliceNY did not get an invitation to the event.

- Boss Tweed sees Mona Lisas in Union Square - for The Da Vinci Code, perhaps?

The boys at A Hamburger Today have let us know that May is National Hamburger Month. This month-long celebration is being sponsored by White Castle (we hear they know a thing or two about burgers, having been in the burger biz for 85 years). If you feel like commemorating the occasion, you can always send someone an e-card, but we recommend celebrating the right way -- by diving right in to a big, juicy burger at the establishment of your choosing (the one pictured is from P.J. Clark's, in case you were wondering).

Sure, you might think of Christopher Meloni as the always angry Detective Eliot Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but he's also had some indelible roles in The Runaway Bride, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Wet Hot American Summer and, of course, Oz. We were perusing the official Christopher Meloni website when we found this great speech that Oz (and Homicide) creator Tom Fontana gave for him at a Human Rights Equality Awards dinner:

When we were shooting OZ, there was a scene where the character he played, Keller, was in the Hole and had to take a piss. Chris got the script and came to my office: "I want to do this," he said, "I want to actually take a piss on camera." Normally, a scene like that would involve prop men and tubes and other special effects, but because Keller was naked, Chris' instincts were a hundred percent correct -- the scene would have more impact if he actually peed. Now, I don't know how an actor prepares for that, whether he uses Stanislavsky or Pellegrino - but the moment came, we're on the soundstage, the director calls action, the camera pans down and Chris starts peeing -- on cue. The shot is perfect. Except for one slight technical glitch. Okay. Take two - same deal, action, camera pans, Chris starts to pee on cue. The shot is even better. I'm happy. The director's delirious. Chris says, "Do we want to do it again? 'Cause I got another one in me."

The mother of police officer Eric Hernandez who died from shots fired by another officer is filing a lawsuit for $50 million in damages. Hernandez, who was off-duty when he visited a Bronx White Castle, had been beaten by a group of men and was crawling outside, with his gun in hand, when police officer Alfredo Toro responded to the scene. Toro, not realizing Hernandez was a fellow officer, shot him in the legs and abdomen when Hernandez didn't lower his gun. There is thought that Hernandez also thought Toro might have been another attacker, and doctors believe the beating affected his ability to hear. His mother, Cynthia Salich, said, "Eric is obedient. When the officers told Eric to drop the gun, he was ailing. The police officer didn't give Eric reasonable time and opportunity to lower his gun against the person he thought had attacked him inside the restaurant." What Gothamist is curious about are the reports that Hernandez was drunk when he went to the White Castle - and the fact that officers should not draw their guns when drinking. Should Hernandez's impaired judgement be on trial?

- And sometimes we wish this bus driver was our bus driver - unless we're the guy outside

Yesterday, the Daily News revealed that Colin Farrell attended the funeral for police officer Eric Hernandez, the rookie cop who died from gunshot injuries (on-duty cop shot the off-duty and armed Hernandez, who had been roughed up by some men at a Bronx White Castle, in a sad case of mistaken identity). The story stated Hernandez, a star on the NYPD football team, had been among the players asked to appear as an extra in the upcoming cop-corruption movie Farrell is starring in, and that Farrell had gained permission from Hernandez's dad to attend - and bring people to film the funeral for research purposes - even though Hernandez's mom didn't know anything about it. But now it turns out that Hernandez's father had no idea that Farrell and a film crew were going to be there and didn't give permission for them to film it. The football team manager's, Ed Gardner, who had told the News yesterday that there was permission, now admits that he only told the families about the filming after the funeral - and adds that the film will have a tribute to Hernandez at the end and that the film crew would pay for the tombstone and a plaque for the stationhouse. The father, Efrain Hernandez, is taking the high road, saying, "A movie, or complaining about it, seems pretty insignificant compared to everything else," but added that Hernandez said nothing about the movie. Hmm - and it seems tacky not to tell the family until after the funeral, though the camera crews probably blended in with all the other news crews there.

When we first saw that White Castle was having a special Valentine's Day at their locations, Gothamist hoped that someone would go. Thankfully, we have some friends that decided to (our better half hates White Castle). As promised, there were tablecloths, candles, and a host. As a bonus, diners wWe're told that the manager/greeter at the Metropolitan Ave White Castle even spoke French. White Castle? Nay, Le Chateau Blanc. There was even a crystal-like swan to hole some "after-dinner" candy. All that on top of some tasty and cheap burgers. You better believe that we're kicking ourselves for not going ourselves yesterday.

- Public school kids who filed for transfers have to stay put

Eric Hernandez, the off-duty police officer who was taunted and beaten by a group of men at a Bronx White Castle last month, only to be shot multiple times by another police officer who thought he may have been a troublemaker as well, died yesterday after his family took him off life support. Hernandez had been in a coma for over a week, undergoing many surgeries including the partial amputation of a leg; tests showed little brain activity. Hernandez had been on the force for two years and will be given a full inspector's funeral. He would have been 25 years old later this month.

- Finally, we hope to see you at our Movable Hype 6.0 concert at the Knitting Factory tonight

Police Officer Eric Hernandez, the star of the NYPD football team, had part of his right leg amputated as his injured leg's condition worsened. Hernandez's right and left legs, as well as stomach, were shot when a fellow police officer, Alfredo Toro, appeared on the scene of a brawl at a Bronx White Castle. Hernandez had been beaten by a group inside the fast food joint, and was trying to leave when Toro came. It seems that Hernandez thought that Toro might be another attacker, and Toro shot when Hernandez did not put down his gun, not knowing he was a cop. A fourth member of the gang turned himself in as the lawyer for another man, Edwin Rivera, claimed his client was a hero for beating up Hernandez, saying the client thought Hernandez was a robber and might kill people at the White Castle; Commissioner Kelly said, "It was plain for anyone who saw the tape that Rivera initiated this cowardly attack."

Three men suspected of beating off-duty police officer Eric Hernandez (pictured) at a White Castle in the Bronx were arrested. Edwin Rivera, Nelson Rodriguez, and Daryl Massey apparently knew Hernandez was a cop before beating him repeatedly; the White Castle surveillance tape released by the police led to tips about them. While battered, Hernandez had crawled outside, only to be shot by another police officer, Alfredo Toro, who thought he was one of the gang members. The NYPD believes that Officer Toro's shooting was justified; the Times points out that Toro hasn't been interviewed yet and that Commissioner Kelly is shifting attention to Hernandez's health. He was shot three times, once in each thigh and one in the stomach - the Times said "arteries feeding his lower limbs were shredded, flooding his abdominal cavity with blood." And as many papers have noted, Hernandez was a star on the NYPD's football team.

More news about the wild shooting of the off-duty police officer Eric Hernandez by another cop at a Bronx White Castle during massive confusion (there was a gang present): First of all, it looks like Hernandez was drunk, as his blood alcohol was twice the legal limit when he was admitted to the hospital for the multiple gunshots. And police officers are not supposed to draw their guns when they are drunk; at the time Hernandez drew his gun, he had been beaten. Second, surveillance tapes show him getting brutally beating by the gang - which may have affected his ability to hear the other officer's warning shouts to drop his gun. Police only realized Hernandez was a cop when they found his badge in his pocket - after police officer Alfredo Toro, who responded to the scene earlier, had shot Hernandez. The tapes also show how an argument between a group of people and the White Castle manangement turned into a fight between the gang and Hernandez; plus how Hernandez crawled outside and how the group stole his burgers and hat.

What says romance more than a tiny little hamburger? White Castle is offering special Valentine's Day reservations at their locations. The Daily News says there will be a hostess to greet diners, and that there are even "cloth-covered, candlelit table as romantic music is piped in." This is the first time the Valentine's Day special is being offered in NYC, so if you want to make February 14 really memorable and you weren't quick enough to call the fancy places on January 14 (when many restaurants were taking reservations), maybe this is something to think about. Call 718-899-8404, ext. 304, by February 10. While you may laugh, we remind you that former Senator and former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth celebrate their anniversaries at Wendy's.