News: March 2009 Archives

Famous Alaskan teen parents Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston have confirmed their break-up to the Associated Press. The couple's relationship and pregnancy became an unavoidable talking point since Palin's mother, Alaska Governor Sarah, was the 2008 Republican VP candidate; the couple made a very public appearance at the Republican National Convention and their baby Tripp was born on Dec. 27. Today, Johnston said that they decided to mutually break up "a while ago" but his sister Mercede told Star there were bigger problems, "Levi tries to visit Tripp every single day, but Bristol makes it nearly impossible. She tells him he can't take the baby to our house because she doesn't want him around 'white trash'!" Bristol Palin, who just last month said they were getting married, is "devastated" about the Star article and said, "Unfortunately, my family has seen many people say and do many things to 'cash in' on the Palin name. Sometimes that greed clouds good judgment and the truth."

Ashley Dupre offered up her "year after the Spitzer scandal" thoughts in a blog post for Global Grind, Russell Simmons' hip-hop news site. Dupre writes about moving on, "I am now 23 years old and I’ve made more mistakes than most people make in a lifetime. But to look back and see all that I have overcome, and to stand here, and actually still be here at all, that is a huge achievement. I am proud of myself for surviving," and how she's working on her spiritual side, "The more I know my true self, the more I come to have faith that my presence on earth means more or at least has different meaning than the media or disbelievers have tried to frame it to be." She and Simmons met at yoga class, and naturally, Simmons blogged about it, "While bent over in uttanasana, I noticed a cute, little, short girl whose hands were not placed properly," and when she introduced herself later, he thought, "Oh my god, this 5 foot, 1 inch god-seeker was the $4000 'escort' of Governor Elliot Spitzer."

A former Australian Vogue cover model, whose modeling career ended last year after a doorman disfigured her face with a broken bottle, is finally having her day in court. Liskula Cohen's lawsuit isn't against the hotel where she was attacked, but against Google—she's trying to force the company to identify an anonymous blogger who's been trashing her on the website "Skanks in NYC." Earlier today the lawyer for the blog was in court to explain why her client's identity should remain undisclosed. "Skank and ho are ubiquitous terms," skanky ho lawyer Anne Salisbury told the judge. "If you Google it, you get millions of hits... If you turn on VH1, skank, ho, skank, ho is every other word." Ah, the VH1 defense. If only every argument could be settled by turning to MTV Networks for guidance. According to the Post, Salisbury also also cited a recent New Jersey ruling dismissing a lawsuit against the operators of "Hot Chicks with Douchebags." (That kitten class action suit against LOLcats is also an important precedent.)

An ex-con arrested for possession of a weapon was able to beat the rap by using the arresting officer's MySpace and Facebook statuses against him. During the trial, Officer Vaughan Etienne had to explain why his MySpace mood was set to "Devious" on the day of the arrest and why his Facebook status was “Vaughan is watching ‘Training Day’ to brush up on proper police procedure” as the trial approached. The nail in the coffin for the officer though was probably some online comments he had left on an arrest video that included, "If he wanted to tune him up some, he should have delayed cuffing him... If you were going to hit a cuffed suspect, at least get your money’s worth ’cause now he’s going to get disciplined for a faggot-ass love tap." Etienne, who had previously been suspended for steroid usage, told the Times, “What you say on the Internet is all bravado talk, like what you say in a locker room.” Recently it was revealed that the NYPD is drilling their trainees on what not to put online after catching cadets flashing gang signs in profile pics.

After yesterday's pre-dawn raids in Washington Heights and the Bronx to arrest 34 Trinitarios gang members (seven are still at large), the federal and local authorities discussed the operation. One fed told CityRoom the gang originated in prison "to protect them from the Latin Kings and the Bloods." NYPD captain Gerry Farrell of the Bronx gang squad said, "What started out as slashings and stabbings with knives and machetes has escalated to shootings and homicides." Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin said, "Thanks to the work of dedicated federal agents and police officers, the residents of Washington Heights have safer places to live today, and those who would endanger their community with drugs and violence are now called to face justice." But one Washington Heights resident was unconvinced and told the Daily News, "It doesn't make me feel safer at all. There's always going to be some left on the outside. They can't arrest everybody."

Today, Governor David Paterson backed off of some controversial proposed taxes, explaining, "Nobody wants to add problems to the citizens of New York. We got there because we couldn't find another place to trim or cut spending." Last December, Paterson unveiled a number of ideas to raise revenue like taxes on non-diet sodas, "digitally delivered entertainment services" (like an iTunes download), and clothing under $110. Apparently the state can avoid resorting to these kind of taxes because of expected federal stimulus fund money. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith all appeared at a press conference this morning; Smith said, "This decision lets the public know that they have input in the process and that we are listening."

Yikes: WABC 7 reports, "A plane that experienced an engine failure above Queens may have dropped plane parts on a College Point neighborhood." An American Airlines flight (#309) left Laguardia this morning, bound for Chicago's O'Hare airport, and experienced some trouble and engine number two failed. The FAA said metal parts fell from the engine onto a home on 123rd Street. The plane, an MD-80, was diverted to JFK; according to WCBS 2, no injuries were reported from the plane or on the ground.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 8 to 3 yesterday to approve St. Vincent's designs for an $800 million hospital tower on the site currently occupied by the landmark O'Toole building in Greenwich Village. The vote came just a day after preservationists announced their lawsuit against St. Vincent's; some community groups have been trying, unsuccessfully so far, to stop the hospital from razing the 44-year-old building. The commission had previously rejected plans for a 329-foot hospital tower, but ultimately approved it at a height of 278 feet. But hospital officials still need the commission to approve their proposal for a 350-unit condo across the street; St. Vincent's plans to use money they raise from the apartments to build the hospital. Looking ahead to a surely prosperous future, developer William Rudin optimistically tells NY1, "Hopefully the economic situation we are in will have alleviated itself. And the economic stimulus would have kicked in and we'll see positive things happening in the economy and we think four to five years from now."

State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, a Brooklyn Democrat, is still pushing hard for a special tax on strip clubs, which he says would raise money to help victims of human trafficking. When Ortiz first proposed the tax last year, he also floated the idea of requiring strippers to purchase licenses before they could legally dance erotically. There's no mention of licensing in today's AP article, which reports only that Ortiz would like to levy a statewide, $10 tax on patrons of nude and seminude dance clubs and strip bars. Ortiz argues that the tax would generate plenty of desperately-needed dollar bills for sex trafficking victims at a time when there's no money in the budget to assist them. The bill doesn't have a Senate sponsor yet, but if it passes, strip club owners will probably just dodge the tax by moving their operations to bicycles.

Federal authorities tell the Staten Island Advance that they apprehended the leader of a notorious Mexican gang "responsible for about 20 murders and numerous kidnappings in three Mexican states." Apparently Liberio Andrew Gonzalez, whose Liborio gang would dress as police officers, kidnap the young and old, and demand 4-6 million peso ransoms, had fled to the U.S. in 2005 and was living on Staten Island under another name and cleaning boats. Rosebank resident Calixto Reyes said Gonzalez rented an attic room for $400/month for the past few months, "He just lived upstairs with us. We really did not know." A man whose parents live across the street from Reyes said, "You don't think you know your neighbor, but you don't expect that. That's weird. What are you going to do? Maybe it's better off not knowing your neighbors."

Yesterday, Daily News noted that former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.—now the White House's director of urban policy—approved a big city project designed by an architect who had just finished a renovation project on Carrion's own home back in 2007. After initially not telling the News how much he paid for the project or responding to the paper's request for cancelled checks, now the News gets a response: "Carrion admitted he hadn't paid architect Hugo Subotovsky to design a porch and balcony for his City Island home." Carrion adds that the final bill will end up being $3,627.50 for Subotovsky's 51.5 hours of work (just $71/hour) and claimed no bill was paid because he's waiting for the "final survey" to be "filed and approved...as is [the architect's] practice for projects of this kind." Hmm, that's interesting—one would think an architect would get on that immediately to, you know, get paid.

Newsday reports that a 20-month-old toddler managed to crash his parents 1993 Buick into a building on Long Island yesterday. Apparently the child's mother left the car running—with the boy's father in the front passenger seat—while she went inside a check cashing business last night. The toddler climbed from the backseat into the front and "put the car in gear, rolling it into the building." According to WABC 7, "The vehicle took out a brick column and a window before coming to a stop inside a store." Thankfully no one inside the car or in the store was injured.

Kenny Alexis, who was convicted attempted murder after stabbing four people in a 13-hour period in 2006, was sentenced to 34 years in prison yesterday. Prosecutors had asked for 75 years, but his defense asked the judge to consider Alexis's medical history—Alexis is schizophrenic and had spent time in a mental facility. Alexis first stabbed a tourist from Texas on a downtown C train; then he stabbed a man at the Rockefeller Plaza subway platform. His final two victims were Canadian tourists sitting on a traffic island in Times Square. The judge said it was amazing no one died and that these random attacks "are the scariest types of crimes that we see."

Yesterday Governor Paterson announced a $10.7 billion plan that would improve freight and passenger rail service between NYC and various points upstate. The state hopes to vie for federal funds that would help double the number of intercity rail passengers along New York’s three major corridors (New York City to Albany, Albany to Niagara Falls and Albany to Montreal), increase freight service, and improve train performance—and this would, hopefully, reduce reliance on air and auto travel. Senator Schumer said, “From Albany to Rochester and from Poughkeepsie to Plattsburgh, we must update and reinvent our rail network to unclog the transportation arteries cutting off potential economic growth Upstate." However, hopes for a "high speed train" don't quite mean a bullet train: The Post explains, "At full development, Paterson envisions a train system that peaks out at 150 mph" ("Currently, the top speed on most tracks is 70 mph").

The Observer reports that local independent Brooklyn newspaper The Brooklyn Paper has been purchased by News Corporation. The paper's editor Gersh Kuntzman said he hadn't met or spoken with News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch yet, but assured the Observer, "They don’t want the product to change. And they love the product. And the product is fantastic." Kuntzman, a former NY Post writer, had dismissed concerns that the Brooklyn Paper was in financial trouble last year, "Brooklyn needs us too much right now, what with local papers being snapped up by billionaire moguls who have no interest in local news except maximizing classified ad sales," a statement that he now amends to, "Brooklyn still needs The Brooklyn Paper, which is why one of the only people in the world who still believes in newspapers — Rupert Murdoch — is putting his money and genius behind us." Recently, a NY Times article looked at how Murdoch's fondness for printing was hurting News Corp.'s bottom line.

The five men, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, suspected of carrying out the 9/11 attacks issued a written statement calling the conspiracy charge "laughable." The Wall Street Journal reports, "The six-page statement, dated March 1, was filed with a military judge at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in response to nine charges filed by military prosecutors last year." Here's a PDF; some highlights: "Were you expecting us to inform you about our secret attack plans? Blame yourselves and your failed intelligence apparatus and hold them accountable, not us... Also, as the prophet has stated: 'War is to deceive.'" They also bring up the toll of civilian deaths the U.S. caused in World War II, "Did you forget about your nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?"

An everyday occurrence turned into a 28 hour ordeal for a Queens man last month when he was arrested for using the emergency subway exit at DeKalb Avenue on the L line in Brooklyn. 32-year-old Todd Zielinski says he used the exit to bypass a crowd of commuters pushing through the turnstiles, but plainclothes cops stopped him, checked his ID, and sent him through what's commonly called "the system." In most cases, the NYPD issues summonses for minor offenses like this, but suspects without IDs or with outstanding warrants are sent on a long trip down to The Tombs before seeing a judge. But Zielinski, a Verizon technician, insists his record is clean and tells the Daily News, "They took 28 hours of my life away from me. People can't believe it. This is what our city's come to? I've taken the subway and buses all my life... If I counted how much money I've given to the MTA to be treated like this." (In 2006, the MTA reported that unnecessary use of the emergency gates was causing the automatic alarms to malfunction.) An NYPD spokesman confirmed the arrest, but it's unclear why Zielinski was detained for so long. Perhaps the inevitable lawsuit will shed more light on the incident.

This morning, federal agents and members of the NYPD busted dozens of members of the Trinitarios gang in Washington Heights and the Bronx early this morning. MyFoxNY reports, "The Trinitarios are accused of being a Dominican gang that operated and controlled drug trafficking on at least four city blocks in the area of West 171st Street through West 174th Streets in the Washington Heights neighborhood." Also: 200 law enforcement officers were involved with the raid. The Trinitarios are believed to be the city's fastest growing gang—and they are not afraid to use violence (their weapon of choice is the machete).

Incase you had already forgotten about the Real Housewives of New York City, the newest one, Kelly Bensimon, is fighting her way to headlines! The NY Post reports that the "6-foot-tall, 40-year-old former model, horse fancier and one-time marathon runner got into a fight last week with her boyfriend, 30-year-old Nick Stefanov, and clocked him, giving him a black eye and opening a blood-gushing gash on his left cheek." Stefanov fled and reported the beating to the 5th Precinct, landing Bensimon with a misdemeanor third-degree assault and a March 31st court date (she's currently denying the charges). The two recently engaged lovebirds now have a restraining order that prevents them from contacting each other, but Stefanov seems to want to get back together with the "housewife" even though she's been physically abusive in the past—he did say, "My injuries are worse than Rihanna's - and Chris Brown was charged with two felonies."

After a memo from Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit saying that the company was profitable in 2009 (thus far), the bank's stock is up 27% to...$1.34! But that news is enough to help other bank stocks rally and the Dow is up by about 250 points. Pandit said of Citigroup, which did receive $45 billion in TARP bailout money, "We are profitable through the first two months of 2009 and are having our best quarter-to-date performance since the third quarter of 2007." But he did add he was disappointed in the company's low stock price. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal reports, "U.S. officials are examining what fresh steps they might need to take to stabilize the [Citigroup] if its problems mount."

The Daily News has been investigating former Bronx Borough President and new director of White House urban policy Adolfo Carrion Jr.'s dealings with developers lately. Today, the News wonders whether there's a connection between the renovation work architect Hugo Subotovsky did on Carrion's City Island home and Carrion's approval of a huge taxpayer-subsidized development—designed by Subotovsky— in the Bronx. At the time of his home renovation (basically installing a balcony onto the second floor), the News reports, "Carrión had at least $15,000 in credit card debt, was paying off two mortgages worth more than $500,000 and had $5,000 in revolving credit from Chase bank." Carrion hasn't revealed how much the renovation cost and declined to show the News copies of the checks used to pay for the work, leading the News to remind us, if it was an unreported gift, it "could be seen as Carrión using his position to benefit himself financially, a violation of the law. It could also be unreported income."

Take heed, Chatty Kathys, the police are about to start a crackdown on drivers using hand-held cell phones. Of course, the NYPD can't keep their mouths shut either, which is why a police source blabbed all about it to the Post, presumably via cell phone while driving at top speed up Sixth Avenue. The source was even kind enough to reveal the exact moment when the crackdown is set to commence: Starting at 12:01 a.m. Thursday there will be stepped-up enforcement, with more cops assigned to catch people chatting while driving. So you've got less than 48 hours to recklessly multitask; violators face a fine of $120 if caught. In 2008 the NYPD issued 195,579 summonses to drivers using hand-held cellphones, and last August the City Council and State Legislature talked about banning text messaging while driving, too. And once that passes, you know they're coming for your BrickBreaker!

In an interview with Politico, Senator John McCain said, "These are terrible, perilous times, so I will seek ways to work with the president of the United States. I don’t want him to fail in his mission of restoring our economy.” However, he has problems with how President Obama and his administration have been handling budget issues so far, as well as the measures enacted by President Bush, “We’re pouring billions and billions of dollars into (banks) with not only no improvement, but their stocks continue to plummet. I think we have been pursuing the wrong strategy.” McCain added that the Obama administration "would have to present a blueprint that not only convinces me but frankly that convinces the Warren Buffetts and the Jack Welches ... people we would look up to who are experts who would say this plan will work. We don’t hear that.” Well, Warren Buffett did say yesterday that the GOP should support Obama.

Last summer Lorne Michaels's "stalker," 31-year-old Evans Pidhajecky, went to court for allegedly "mailing, calling or visiting Michaels at least six times" in 2007. Well how else was he going to accuse the SNL producer of stealing ideas from his brain telepathically? Oh right, telepathically! Today reports are coming in that the case has now "been adjourned for six months. The judge says it will be dismissed and sealed if he stays out of trouble." Criminal Court Judge Robert Mandelbaum also "ordered Pidhajecky to undergo therapy twice a week for six months," and of course leave Lorne alone. This also means that Lorne is still to blame for his own bad ideas.

The NY Post's police blotter brings us back to the days of Mugger Money. They report a suspect confronted two 20-something females on East 59th Street near Park Avenue at 4:10 a.m. on Saturday wielding a large knife. After taking their cash, "the thief then asked to see their cellphones, but, when the women produced them, he uttered, 'I don't want that,' and ran off." Aside from sounding like something that would happen to Liz Lemon, perhaps this can serve as a warning that it could be time to start carrying around your old rotary telephone as a decoy! Or install Google Latitude for tracking purposes. [via NY Mag]

On the same day a former cop was charged with killing his girlfriend, another NYPD officer is one of four men who have been arrested for beating up a man on Long Island yesterday—charges that may be upped to a hate crime attack. 32-year-old Juan Nunez has been suspended by the NYPD after he and three other Hispanic men allegedly attacked 52-year-old Daryl Jackson outside of a deli at 8:15 a.m. Sunday morning. Jackson was initially called a racial epithet by one of Nunez's group while he was waiting to use a pay phone. When Jackson said that he didn't appreciate the slur, he claims one of the men said, "Go back to Africa." Jackson ended up in the hospital with head and neck wounds after the attack which allegedly involved a baseball bat. Nunez is a 7-year vet at the 101st precinct in Far Rockaway.

A coalition of community groups and preservationists have filed a lawsuit against the Landmarks Preservation Commission [LPC] and St. Vincent’s Hospital to try and block the demolition of the distinctive O’Toole building in Greenwich Village. You'll recall that after a bitter public battle, St. Vincent's hospital was granted a “hardship-status” exemption last October to raze the landmark building to make way for a 299-foot-tall medical tower. The lawsuit, spearheaded by a group called Protect the Village Historic District, argues that the LPC "did not make an adequate investigation of alternatives, including the potential reuse of St. Vincent's existing buildings." Officials at St. Vincent's have threatened that the hospital would have to close if it could not build an $830 million medical tower on the site of the O’Toole, which NY Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff hails as a representation of "a moment when some architects rebelled against Modernism’s glass-box aesthetic in favor of ornamental facades." Others simply call it the "overbite building."

Overtime costs for cops and firefighters are on the rise and City Controller William Thompson doesn't think that the mayor's budget is sufficiently accounting for it. Today Thompson is presenting his report on the budget to City Council and beforehand told reporters, "The city routinely and severely underestimates how much annual overtime will accumulate, and inevitably this widens the budget gap that will need to be closed." Thompson said that the mayor's office is undershooting the OT spending by more than $140 million in a year that saw the city pay out more in overtime than recent ones that saw the blackout, the RNC Convention and sending troops to assist Hurricane Katrina damage respectively. A spokesman for the mayor said that no matter the estimates, the city's budget will be balanced just like any other. Over the weekend, Thompson also compared Mayor Bloomberg's recent comments about the futility of taxing the rich to former President Bush's "trickle-down philosophy."

The city's Sidewalk Management Unit has not been doing a very good job, according to Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., who is releasing his annual report on the state of the sidewalks. Over the last several years, the city has paid an average of $63.5 million annually to settle claims relating to defective sidewalks. Thompson says millions could have been saved if the DOT hadn't failed to inspect one out of every five sidewalk defect complaints; he's also dismayed that violations remained unfixed for an average of four years. According to the Daily News, the DOT issues summonses to homeowners, and if they fail to fix the violation, the city is supposed to do the repairs and bill them. But when the repairs aren't done, the city is liable in court. (In 2003, a law was passed to make commercial businesses responsible for their sidewalks, which reduced the number of lawsuits against the city.) Another part of the problem is that parks officials don’t have the $34 million necessary to fix the 22,229 reported sidewalks that have been buckled by the city’s mischievous street trees.

The Cobble Hill teenager who collapsed and died over the weekend while fleeing a fight at a party in Prospect Park had allegedly been struck by a middle-aged man, the father of another teen involved in the melee. A friend of the late Sharif Abdallah told the Times, “They ambushed two of our friends. They came out of nowhere. They were beating on them. The father was doing most of the fighting.” Yesterday police brought in the man who says "they have it all wrong." No charges have been filed yet. The fight broke out at a going way party for a high school friend, when Abdallah was part of a group who stood up for a friend's girlfriend who another group of teens said looked like "Ugly Betty." Sharif's friends had initially claimed that he had a heart condition that may have led to his sudden death, but his family has denied that. An autopsy will be performed today.

Just before noon, a rally is being held outside the Manhattan DA's office, demanding for an investigation into the deaths of four-year-old Hayley Ng and three-year-old Diego Martinez. The two pre-schoolers were killed when an unoccupied van, left idling on East Broadway in Chinatown, jumped a curb and crash into them as their class was coming back from a field trip. The incident was deemed an accident, but the children's families are upset that the driver wasn't even issued a ticket and still has his license. Hayley's aunt told Streetsblog "We're hoping for the DA to set a precedent and prosecute this person or convene a grand jury." (WCBS 2 interviewed Hayley's mother who said, "No, I'm not all right! I'll never be all right! She's gone!") The rally is at One Hogan Place.

Hoboken Public Safety Director Bill Bergin is so fed up with the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade that he wants to cancel next year's parade. He described the chaos on Saturday to Hoboken Now, "On Washingtion Street, bottles were thrown onto the people below. A girl and a guy were performing sex in a window when the parade was going by. One person spit in the face of a fireman. There were young, young girls that were blind drunk standing in the middle of the streets, so drunk that they didn't know where they were." And don't forget people were also urinating from rooftops—apparently most of disturbances were not bars but from "house parties." Hoboken mayor David Roberts and other officials will be discussing the parade and its future. Bergin said, "People talk about how much money the city makes from the parade. But if four or five people go falling off one of these roofs, there's no way to make up for this with fines."

According to the Post, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is the target of a death threat from an "imprisoned pervert with strong NAMBLA ties." Apparently a member of the North American Man/Boy Love Association posted a message on an Internet bulletin board offering "$10,000 to shoot Andrew Cuomo in the face!" Someone noticed the posting and contacted Verizon, who then let the authorities know. The Post suggests the entire NAMBLA organization may support the effort as a source says, "It is our understanding that people in the, and I hate to call it this, 'pedophile community' are angry at Cuomo's office because he's been making the [Internet service providers] take responsibility for policing child pornography - and he's been very aggressive in seeking to keep NAMBLA types behind bars through civil commitment." Cuomo's security has been increased and the investigation is continuing.

A 21-year-old man riding his motorcycle was killed by a driver in Brooklyn around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. Brian Sitarevich, who was riding with other friends, was on Humboldt Street when he was hit by Daniel Levens's SUV; Levens had tried to make a left turn onto Greenpoint Avenue. Levens, of Massapequa, was charged with drunk driving and the Brooklyn DA's office is investigating whether to press more charges. Sitarevich's father wouldn't blame Levens yet, "I can't point the finger at someone that might be innocent," but added, "There is a hole in your heart and I hope one day it will close. I keep looking at the door and hoping he is going to walk through the door for dinner or something."

The FBI will resume a search for bodies allegedly buried at an industrial park in East Farmingdale, Long Island. Last fall, FBI went there in October after an informant said that at least three bodies were there, but only the body of mob hit man William Cutolo, aka Wild Bill, was found (he was previously thought to be dumped in the ocean). The remains the FBI are reportedly looking for belong to Richard Greaves, a Columbo family associate suspect of becoming an informant, and Pace student Carmine Gargano Jr., who may have been targeted because a relative worked for a rival mob family.

Fewer and fewer bars in the five boroughs establish themselves as a neighborhood hangout without the assistance of a television to draw patrons in. Even Greenwich Village pub staples The White Horse Tavern and McSorley's Ale House have sets, though the latter claims theirs is rarely on. Today's Times goes out in search of bars that forge ahead without the distraction of a TV, a group that Brooklyn Brewery owner Stephen Hindy calls a vanishing species. Not surprisingly, the ones they find wear their lack of television as a badge of honor at bars like Scratcher and Beer Table in Park Slope, where they seem to have no problem turning away customers looking to watch a game with their pint. An owner of the Swift Hiberian Lounge NoHo tells the Times, "We’ve never had a television because we wanted to inspire something that is close to the conviviality of pubs in Ireland.” One of the patrons there added, "The only good thing about a TV is that if you want to dump a girl, you can pretend to be watching it."

With news that the State Legislature is working on a MTA bailout plan that involves combining the duties of the chairman and CEO, the Daily News reports that Mayor Bloomberg appears to support it. The mayor said, "If Dick Ravitch thinks that the management should be streamlined, it's probably a good idea," referring to Ravitch's suggestions for MTA revenue creation. Currently the MTA has an unpaid, part-time chairman—currently Dale Hemmerdinger— and a full-time CEO/executive director—now Elliot Sander; if the jobs were combined, it's unclear which would be the last man standing—or if someone totally new would be appointed. Bloomberg didn't voice his support one way or the other, but did say, "Lee Sander has done a great job. He's worked very hard, but first let's see what the law is. If it's changed I would certainly be happy to give my opinion to the governor... In terms of who should run it, if he were to pick Lee or not, I just don't know."

A teenager in Prospect Park dropped dead while fleeing the scene of a fight where a gang of teens had upped the ante of a scuffle by showing up with a man twice their age who then got involved. The Daily News reports that 18-year Sharif Abdallah confronted a group of teenagers after they called a female friend of his fat and ugly. A minor confrontation escalated when the gang of mocking teens returned to the park with a man in his 30s or 40s, who put one of Abdallah's friend in a headlock and engaged in what police called "fisticuffs, but nothing serious." As Abdallah ran away from the altercation, he collapsed at the 15th Street exit of the park from what friends believed to be a heart murmur. He was rushed by paramedics to Methodist Hospital, but pronounced dead soon after. Police are still investigating the incident that led to the death of the senior at Xaverian High School. A friend told the News, "He was the funniest kid in the world. He was an artist; he could draw anything in his mind."

Senator Charles Schumer said yesterday that the large chunk of stimulus money that will go to New York should be arriving by the end of this month. Local schools will be able to factor the stimulus money into next year's budgets when they're put together in late March. Schumer said, “These are difficult times for our school boards and this aid is critical to avoid layoffs and higher taxes." Schools will have to obligate 85 percent of their stimulus money by the end of 2010, with the remainder needing to be allocated by the end of September 2011. Albany will also get a good chunk of its stimulus money in the weeks ahead, with Governor Paterson and legislators expected to tangle on how to divvy it up to address various budget needs. Schumer is credited for bringing the state a good piece of the stimulus pie with one Democrat recently saying after the final bill went though, "Whatever Chuck wants, Chuck gets."

We're barely a couple of months into the long-awaited Democratic rule of both the Assembly and Senate in Albany, but sources say that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is running circles around his new counterpart, Senate Leader Malcolm Smith. One Democrat tells the News, "Malcolm is a newcomer. He needs a year to figure it all out. Shelly has been here forever, so it's really not a fair fight." After initially having his leadership challenged by senators from within his party, maintaining such a slim majority over the GOP and gaining little leverage from a struggling Democratic governor, Smith has been able to get very little passed. Meanwhile Silver, the old veteran, continues chugging along, securing enough votes to pass bills strengthening rent-control laws and easing the Rockefeller drug laws. Another Dem says, "Shelly has played this perfectly. If things get done, he's a hero. If they don't, it's all Smith's fault."

Where else can you get a $500,000+ home for five figures? The Real Estate Disposition Corp. is holding a foreclosure auction for 375 homes in NY, NJ, and Pennsylvania at the Javits Center today. The Post explains that while the auction is free, "but buyers need a $5,000 cashier's check and valid ID. Only cash will be accepted for some homes." A spokesman told Crain's, "In the past, there weren’t enough foreclosed New York homes to hold an auction. This year I suspect that there will be a second and third auction in the city." While some of the homes may be great deals—this graphic shows a $740,000 house in Port Chester with a starting bid of $149,000—many of the homes are not in very good shape. And there is criticism of foreclosure auctions: A group will be protesting while Rep. Carolyn Maloney noted that the House passed a measure to make mortgage payments affordable, "In these tough economic times, we need to preserve the American dream, not auction it off."

The NYPD released a sketch of a man believed to be responsible for three separate muggings. In all three incidents, the victims were hit on the back of their heads. The first, on 2/22, around 9:11 p.m., involved a woman walking her dog on on 91st Street and East Drive. Then, this past Monday, a woman was robbed at First Avenue and 90th Street and then minutes later, another woman was robbed at 90th and York Avenue. It's also believed that the same mugger is the one chased away from a woman at 89th Street and York on Tuesday—according to the Post, a doorman saw a man "rush up behind a 31-year-old woman, knock her into a pile of garbage bags and jump on her back at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday." The doorman, who tried to chase the attacker, said, "She couldn't yell because her face was pushed into the garbage." Contact Crimestoppers with any information.

Nearly two months after announcing its plan to liquidate—and four months filing for Chapter 11—electronics retailer Circuit City is closing its doors today. The AP reports, "Circuit City was slated stay open until the end of the month, but the final day came early because most of the remaining merchandise has been sold. One of the liquidators (four were handling the sale of CC's merchandise) told Bloomberg News, "Overall, we are pleased with the way things went." Some consumers, on the other hand, might not have been happy with the liquidation sales, such as a Minnesota family that claims they were prevented from opening a TV box to see if it was damaged...only to go home and see it was shattered. The chain leaves behind a number of locations (some rather large) in NYC; it's unclear what stores will fill them in this real estate market.

As the economy slips and takes the (overheated) real estate market with it, the NY Times wonders how much NY real estate prices will decrease: "Some industry observers foresee market drops of 40 percent, while others think that is too extreme and suggest that price reductions of 25 percent will more be likely the new norm." Which makes sense, since those Wall Street bankers throwing their bonus money or foreign investors around are rare breeds these days. Still, falling prices isn't necessarily a bad thing to Corcoran Group president Pamela Liebman, who said, "Why should an average one-bedroom with nothing special to offer cost well over a million? The market got ahead of itself, and this correction is good for New York because it brings the affordability back in line.” Well, those real estate brokers making commission off the average not-so-special $1 million apartment weren't complaining!

With Ponzi scheme "investor" Bernard Madoff reportedly set to plead guilty to cheating his client out of billions, a former federal prosecutor tells the Post, "This guy is going to die in jail...He's got nothing to negotiate with. There is absolutely no deal that can be cut unless he can give up Hillary Clinton or someone like that." (The Post envisions that Bernie's cellmate will be named Bubba.) Newsday reports that "Manhattan federal judge Denny Chin said he is allowing the government to notify by Internet Web site postings the thousands of Madoff investors burned in the scandal that they have the right to appear in court on March 12." Madoff investors who wish to speak must email the U.S. Attorney's office (at [email protected] ) by Wednesday 10 a.m. We hope if victims are allowed to speak that Elie Wiesel is one of them. Last week the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner Wiesel, whose charity lost eveything, said, "It's the inhumanity in this man who simply believed he can go around depriving people of their livelihoods. What he has done to certain people, it breaks my heart."

If you're looking to make a late night out of the unseasonably warm winter evening, you might want to get a head start since last call might come an hour earlier than expected tonight. Daylight-savings time officially leaps forward by an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. WPIX was at the Tourneay TimeMachine in Midtown set 8,000 clocks and watches at the new time this afternoon. And while most of us just grumble over the loss of an hour of sleep, the consequences of the change can actually be much more serious. MSNBC reports that number of heart attacks ride 5% in the two weeks following the spring ahead (and decrease 5% when we fall behind). At the very least, you can take a step to keeping yourself safer by taking the FDNY's advice and changing the batteries on your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

If you think that someone nearby has no concern for you because they are talking loudly on their cell phone, you might want to consider just how deeply that lack of interest in your well-being might run. Thursday in Borough Park, a woman tried to take a stand against an overly vocal mobile user and ended up on the receiving end of a beating. After being told to pipe down while talking loudly on her phone by the woman while inside a bodega, 21-year-old Berta Rakhamimov chased the chastiser down, shoved her in the chest, threw hot coffee in her face and began biting her on the finger and kicking her thigh with her high heels. Rakhamimov then fled, but police were able to catch up with and charge the woman with assault, menacing and criminal possession for the attack that left the victim bruised and burned.

Word is that a bailout plan for the MTA could begin making its way through state legislatures in the week ahead. This past week was one that only seemed to present stalling for any potential alternatives to the looming threat of a $100 monthly Metrocard. Despite a push from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, any serious talk of bringing tolls to the East River crossings has hit a snag with the Democratic bloc in the State Senate known as the Three Amigos demanding the MTA "go back to the drawing board" and calling for an audit for the agency. The new bailout plan would come with some potential reorganization for the MTA, a new position would combine the roles of the full time executive director (picture, current executive director Elliot Sander) and the part-time, unpaid chairman (currently Dale Hemmerdinger). The legislature could also see a revenue driven proposal from Governor Paterson that would substantially raise DMV registration fees.

While the two former cops convicted of carrying out murders for the mafia were sentenced to life in prison yesterday, the two men will continue to receive thousands of dollars each month in pensions. Since Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito were charged with their crimes after retiring in the early '90s, their families will continue to receive the pensions, which cannot even be seized and used towards the millions in fines they have to pay as part of their sentence. Yael Perlman, the daughter of a gem dealer killed by the pair, said yesterday, "That's sick." Attempts to overturn the statutes that are paying out pensions to 450 corrupt officials have gone nowhere. Last year City Councilman David Yassky said, "It's a world that rewards people who lie, cheat, steal, take bribes, betray the public trust and embezzle public funds."

Earlier this week, Port Authority said that the construction of buildings, a 9/11 memorial and transit at the World Trade Center site will result in more than 26,000 jobs. And the indirect job—like the ones that "supply services, materials and machinery to the rebuilding effort"—creation may add over 35,000 jobs to that number. That's notable because 30,000 construction jobs are expected to be lost over the next few years. Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia said, "The World Trade Center rebuilding effort is an economic shot in the arm for our region at a difficult time. This investment in our region's future is also helping us in the present - by creating tens of thousands of jobs and generating billions for our local economy." The WTC project will extend until 2016. Also, the Port Authority agreed to let the NYC Department of Building shut down job sites with unsafe cranes; previously, the PA did not have to surrender to city regulations because it's a NY-NJ state agency. The WTC site has 24 cranes—the most in the city.

Police are investigating a shooting that allegedly took place at Morgan Avenue and Meeker Avenue in Greenpoint last night. Two men were driving the victim in search of a hospital when they flagged down a Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority officer as they headed towards the entrance of the Midtown Tunnel not far from the Greenpoint border in Queens around 11 p.m. The two men told police that the victim was in the front seat of the gold Honda Odyssey parked alongside the BQE when another man shot him in the head and then fled the scene. The victim was pronounced dead once EMTs arrived. No arrests have been made and police have not released any description of the alleged shooter.

NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, in his quest to get to the bottom of Merrill Lynch's extravagant bonuses right before announcing a $13.8 billion 4th quarter loss, told a judge, "We respectfully request that the court reject Bank of America’s continued efforts to stymie the attorney general’s investigation." Bank of America, which bought Merrill, has allegedly threatened to sue an employee for cooperating with Cuomo's investigation. The bank says it "has continually offered to provide the information the attorney general is seeking if he would agree to an appropriate confidentiality agreement. He has continually declined," (Cuomo wants to air all the dirty laundry). Additionally, the AG's office says it has found signs of "trading irregularity"; per Bloomberg News, a London-based Merrill trader who "recorded a trading profit of $120 million for the fourth quarter may instead have lost a large amount." Bank of America and Merrill Lynch have received a combined $45 billion in bailout funds.

Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today, P.S. 41 (116 W. 11th Street, Manhattan) is holding a bone marrow donor drive, in hopes of finding someone who may be a match for kindergarten student Jasmina Anema, who is suffering from a rare and deadly form of leukemia. Jasmina, who just turned six, is adopted, so her doctors are unable to turn to blood relatives for bone marrow transplants and her family and friends have been trying to draw attention to the drive (see the very touching video at her website). Her mother told the Daily News earlier this week, "I need thousands of people to come," and called Jasmina, who was three days old when she was adopted, "the love of my life." The drive is also to raise awareness about registering as a potential bone marrow donor; here's more information about eligibility requirements.

A number of items that once belonged to Mahatma Gandhi sold for $1.8 million at auction yesterday despite an outcry from the Indian government and a last-minute change of heart from the items' owner. The Times describes a somewhat chaotic scene that unfolded minutes before the lot was to be auctioned off, when a lawyer for James Otis, who amassed the items piece-by-piece in the '90s, tried to halt the proceedings. Julien Schaerer, an official of the auction house, said that Otis had entered a "legally binding agreement" to sell the items, and ordered the lawyer escorted from the building. The lot, which included his sandals, pocket watch, and spectacles, was ultimately purchased by Vijay Mallya, who owns the company that makes Kingfisher beer. Otis had earlier rebuffed an offer from the Indian government to buy the lot, calling it too low, but said he would be willing to hand it over if the government agreed to increase spending on the poor. It's unclear what prompted Otis's second thoughts, but he said he would not challenge the auction if Mallya returned the items to India.

With productions fleeing the city after the state's tax credit program ran out of money, a popular prop house is now expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection next week. Props for Today, which has been around for 28 years, hooks up shows like Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock with furnishings, and Crain's reports that owner Dyann Klein will attempt to "reorganize" after a rough year. Klein said, “The decrease of film making and television in New York, which began with the writers' strike and has continued and been escalated by the loss of the tax incentives, has impacted everybody in this industry. I believe I will be able to implement necessary changes in reorganization in Chapter 11 and emerge as a much stronger, healthy company that will continue to be the leader in prop rentals in the industry for years to come.” Allegedly the company owes just under $1 million in rent on its West 34th Street space. In the meantime, maybe local Michel Gondry can help some productions in need of props with his cardboard boxes.

An exterior wall at 270 West 123rd Street in Harlem collapsed around 3:15 p.m. WCBS 2 reports the building was "partially under construction" and "appears to be a five-story walk-up with a pizza shop, Pizzaria 123, on the bottom floor." WABC 7 says that some pizzeria customers were temporarily trapped: "Workers were pouring concrete at a construction site when the wall collapsed into the pizzeria next door." Four people were injured; the extent of their injuries is not known.

Put down that silly book and stop ironing that tight-fit v-neck for a moment, lads, and know this: you're now a part of the least manliest city in the nation, according to some list. The #1 spot on the "America's Manliest Cities" index went to Nashville (home to an unhealthy number of NASCAR enthusiasts), with NYC falling right at the very bottom. They report, "Despite high ratings in the bowling category, New York City ranks 50th out of 50 in the study due to low scores in manly indicators such as fishing, home improvement and drag racing." Cities that got higher rankings did so through high purchases of salty snacks, number of hardware stores, monster truck rallies and, of course, sports bars. Fun trick: if you flip the list upside down you'll get the America's Most Educated Cities list, and hey, we're #1! [via Village Voice]

The Post reports, "Mayor Bloomberg has lowered the budget ax on funding for several community organizations after determining the groups did not meet new standards." City Council members distribute $46 million to various non-profit community groups, but last year it was discovered that money was being left for phantom groups—with the money used by the Council Speaker's office for "future gaps"—so a new review process was put in place. A Bronx community center was disqualified due to "poor performance on past contracts" while four others, including a graffiti removal company, were were deemed to be for-profit. The Post adds, "Hundreds of recipients are still under review and have yet to receive funding."

Brooklyn will have to cross its legs and wait for the arrival of the first automated pay toilet; following up on an initial report on Brownstoner, the Daily News has confirmed that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has postponed a vote on the matter. There was considerable excitement last month when plans for a toilet in Grand Army Plaza were revealed, particularly because there are few bathrooms in the immediate vicinity, and the public is often reduced to using the less than sanitary porta-potties in Prospect park. The local community board approved the proposal, but it seems the commission is concerned the toilet's aesthetics will clash with the surrounding landmarked structures, such as the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch. They've requested renderings showing how the toilet will look in the wider context of Grand Army Plaza, and won't vote until they're satisfied with what they see. Two of the self-cleaning pay toilets are already doing brisk business in Manhattan (with occasionally embarrassing results); they cost 25 cents for 15 minutes on the throne.

As one report says the biggest jump in delinquent mortgages occurred in NY State (up 35% last year), another report is linking a rise in crime to the rise in foreclosed homes. Based on ACORN's studies, the Daily News reports, "The only Queens areas where crime rose between 2006 and 2008 - Jackson Heights, Kew Gardens/Woodhaven, Jamaica/Hollis and Rockaway/Broad Channel - had high foreclosure rates." (Lawmakers have said those areas were targeted with subprime mortgage offers.) Looking at NYPD and FBI data, ACORN found that high-foreclosure neighborhoods had much more crime than low-foreclosure neighborhoods over that period, "The increasing displacement of homeowners leaves neighborhoods without the deterrent presence of concerned neighbors' watchful eyes." The News offers one example: "Two serial rapists who terrorized southeastern Queens last summer viciously attacked women more than a dozen times in a vacant church and other abandoned buildings."

Today's "who has Governor Paterson upset now" story is in the NY Times, which details how the governor "agreed to reconsider a key rule New York adopted as part of a 10-state pact aimed at reducing the threat of global warming by cutting power plant emissions...at the urging of the energy industry." (Okay, so he hasn't pissed off the energy concerns.) The pact is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which calls itself the "first mandatory, market-based effort in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," with participating states promising to "cap and then reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector 10% by 2018." According to the Times, Paterson's "reconsideration" would allow power plants to have more leeway in releasing emissions without cost. While his staff says the governor was thinking about the energy industry being, potentially, "unfairly" burdened, what also bothers environmental groups is that they only found out about Paterson's about-face this week when he apparently told the energy industry about this last fall.

The Post is all excited and "EXCLUSIVE" in a "report" on campaign donations made by foreign models to Representative Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign. Back in June, not long after Weiner made headlines by pushing for visa changes to make it easier for foreign models to work here, a fundraiser was held for his campaign at Merkato 55. According to the Post, the gala was co-hosted by an immigration lawyer whose firm represents some of the top modeling agencies, and several foreign models in attendance made donations ranging from $300 to $500. That's illegal—not because Weiner is rallying to their cause—but because they're not citizens. Weiner's spokesman says it was a simple mistake; they never even deposited the checks, which were returned months ago, and one the models doesn't actually recall attending the party (no surprise there). So why is the Post even talking about this? Because who can resist a headline like, "Weiner's Naughty Hottie$" Certainly not us!

After a nearly three year battle, a man who punched an American Airlines flight attendent on a plane traveling from Zurich to New York has been unable to clear his name. Pierre Delis of Maryland was convicted of assault back in 2006 after an argument with a flight attendant got physical; the incident was sparked when the attendant pushing the dinner cart informed him there was no chicken left, only roast beef. She says Delis shouted obscenities at her and then punched her in the chest, leaving a bruise. He says he hit her inadvertently while trying to swat her hand out of his face. At any rate, Delis was arrested upon landing and ultimately sentenced to time served—the few hours he'd spent in jail—and had to pay $10 in court costs. But he's been trying to overturn the conviction ever since, taking it all the way to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, which yesterday upheld the conviction. So, now you know: Pierre Delis of Maryland is GUILTY of hitting a woman in chest because he couldn't get his precious airplane chicken.

In January, an 86-year-old woman was attacked when a man who broke into her Springfield Gardens home put a pillow over Vivian Squires' head as he slashed her. The perp also stole her jewelry, cash and car. Yesterday, the police announced they made an arrest—the Daily News reports that the suspect is "career hoodlum Andre Mathis." Squires, a retired corrections officer who required 35 staples in her back and 18 stitches for her injuries, told the News, "I am glad they finally caught him - he needs help." She also added she wants to prevent others from falling into a life of crime, "We are going to organize the Gritty Granny Gang. I am going to be a gang leader. My gang is here to help. Not hurt."

This morning, a water main broke close to the intersection of Arthur Kill and Veterans roads. The Staten Island Advance reported, "Water is apparently reaching utility wires, prompting the FDNY to call in Con Edison to assess the situation." Not only that, water was shooting up 30-40 feet in the air and, as MyFoxNY shows in some video, "Cars were actually driving through the water." The DEP is also responding to the situation.

The U.S. Department of Labor released the latest unemployment numbers: The unemployment rate was 8.1% in February, with 651,000 jobs slashed during the month. Reuters reports the 8.1% figure "was above market forecasts for a rise to 7.9 from January's 7.6 percent." This continues a trend of massive layoffs across the country since last year: 533,000 jobs were lost in November, 681,000 in December, and 655,000 in January.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly really wants TD Bank to increase its security: The Daily News reports that he sent the bank a letter criticizing the bank's "friendly" atmosphere (like robber-friendly) lack of bandit barriers, "It is simply unacceptable to put business decisions before public safety." The News adds, "As if to prove Kelly's point, a prolific thief successfully robbed $1,000 from a TD branch on Ninth Ave. Monday - after being rebuffed at three Chase branches" (the Chase branches do have barriers between the customer and tellers). Apparently 17% of this year's bank robberies occurred at TD Bank branches, but TD Bank says, "We don't believe saying that we have a disproportionate amount of robberies is a fair portrayal of us." The NYPD wants to see bandit barriers plus eye-level cameras and "countertops designed to leave clear fingerprints" at bank branches to help deter more bank robberies (which were up 57% last year).