Results tagged “military”

Gov. Paterson has pardoned a solider whose earlier conviction on gun possession charges barred had barred him from fulfilling his lifelong goal of joining the New York Police Department, the Times reports. In only his second pardon since taking office, Paterson granted clemency to Osvaldo Hernandez — a former paratrooper with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division — who was arrested in 2002 when police found a semiautomatic pistol beneath his car seat.

While President Obama's proposal to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan by 30,000 is taking heat from both Republicans and Democrats, Rep. Mike McMahon (D-Staten Island and Brooklyn) told Gothamist that he strongly supports the plan.

Tomorrow around noon expect to see a lot of action in the sky — a military flyover is scheduled! You'll see ospreys and harrier jets over the Hudson River from the Verrazano to the George Washington Bridge. But have no fear, it's all in celebration of the USS New York commissioning ceremony. If you get any good shots of the flyover action, send us your photos!

North Korea claims a Sunday rocket launch was its successful attempt to put a satellite into orbit, but U.S. and South Korea officials disagree, saying that nothing entered space. North American Aerospace Defense Command's statement: "Officials acknowledged today that North Korea launched a Taepo Dong 2 missile at 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, which passed over the Sea of Japan and the nation of Japan. Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean. No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan." (For a successful launch, the third stage would enter orbit.) The U.S., Japan and S. Korea condemned the launch, which is believed to "be cover for a long-range missile test"; Russian agencies confirm N. Korea's claim that it was a successful satellite launch. The U.N. Security Council has convened an emergency meeting; President Barack Obama said, "With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations."

Reader Daniel pointed our attention to this photograph of a military trailer, carrying Humvees and headed towards Manhattan on Flatbush. He noticed that the center one was "outfitted with the so-called non-lethal Active Denial System."

Five years ago today, the United States became involved with the Iraq War. While many Americans are unhappy with the war, per the Washington Post, "For the Bush administration, however, it is the first anniversary of an Iraq strategy that it believes has finally started to succeed." Today President Bush is expected to say, in a speech at the Pentagon, "Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win." Almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the past five years, while almost 30,000 have been wounded. Here's a list of military casualties.

Some dogs traveling to the U.S. from Iraq weren't dogs of war or trained to sniff explosives. Instead, they provided a little comfort and unconditional love to soldiers stuck in a war zone. With the help of the International SPCA's Baghdad Pups program, two dogs named Liberty and K-Pot have been adopted by soldiers' families.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a ceiling collapse at Franklin Ave. and Union St. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian was fatally struck on Queens Blvd. in Woodhaven, Queens, and an unusual rescue on the south bound tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens.
• An undercover cop forgot to turn off the wire he was wearing while discussing 11 bags of cocaine he seized in a Brooklyn bust that were never turned in. He was also sure to repeatedly refer to black people using the "N-word." [No link yet, but we saw the story on NY1.]
• The mother of an escaped convict is telling him through the press to keep running, and knows some day he'll be exonerated of his crime. We foresee either a one-armed man eventually brought to justice or subsequent imprisonment in a South American jail.
• Civil disobedience on 5th Avenue. We did not realize this, but the city has offered free vendor licenses to military veterans since the Civil War. Dan Rossi is protesting the curtailment of the practice by parking his hot dog cart right in front of The Metropolitan Museum.
• There's an interesting installation at the Gavin Brown Enterprise on Greenwich St. created by artist Urs Fischer, who's dug a hole in the ground. It is an absolutely enormous hole in the ground.
• Michael Douglas is the new announcer for the NBC Nightly News. Anderson Cooper responds that he would also consider a celebrity announcer, like Fran Drescher, Clint Eastwood, Paul Reubens, or Cher.
• Macy's is going to stay open 24 hours a day until Christmas Eve. Those are going to be some tired elves.
• A siamese cat named Yoda was bludgeoned to death in an Upper East Side doorman building. Sarah Favorite, the girlfriend of Yoda's owner, was arrested and is being charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

Come next year, when you're flying in and out of JFK, your flight may be slightly less delayed than it's been in the past. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced a plan today to reduce the number of hourly flights at JFK International Airport to 82 or 83 flights, depending on the time of day. That would be down from 95 this past summer and what would have been 104 an hour next summer. Secretary Peters' agreement with the major airlines flying out of JFK will start on March 15th, 2008 and be in place for 2008 and 2009. By shifting flights from peak times of day to off-peak times, the number of daily flights at the airport would actually increase by 50. Currently, there are nearly 100 flights an hour, causing delays that affect the rest of the nation's air traffic.

Joseph Jirovec and Kimberly Babajko are two of ten people arrested in an attack that was initiated by a friendly greeting of "Happy Channukah!" aboard a Q train in Brooklyn last week. Both Jirovec and Babajko have criminal records for assaulting minorities and could face hate crime charges in their latest brush with justice. Both are scheduled to appear in Brooklyn Criminal Court today for the vicious beating they allegedly administered to Walter Adler, who was on his way home from a holiday dinner. Adler and his girlfriend were spared further injury when a complete stranger, Hassan Askari, intervened at his own physical expense. The young Muslim man was beaten alongside Adler.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an armed robbery on Washington Ave. in the Bronx, a bank robbery on 18th Ave. in Brooklyn, and a pedestrian struck on 69th St. and Queens Blvd. in Queens.
• Amidst "barbs and accusations," talks between studios and the writers guild appear to have broken down. Repeats will continue, as will Seth Meyers' long circular picketing sojourn.
• Animals at the Queens City Zoo will be receiving special holiday culinary treats to chow down on every weekend this month.
• Some news outlets use the word "reorganized," but three more city schools are being closed due to disappointing performance. The total is now 13.
• Tomorrow is a great opportunity to visit five historic homes in Flushing, Queens that are generally not open to the public, as part of a holiday tour.
• NBC is refusing to air an ad asking viewers to remember and thank members of the military for their service because it refers to the spot's sponsor's web site, which it deems too political.
• Police are searching for someone who shot a woman in Queens late yesterday. The victim was shot in the chest and found clutching a knife in her hand.
• SantaCon was today; we'll have extended coverage of the bearded bacchanal tomorrow.

A deal with an undercover operative quickly turned deadly yesterday for a man looking to sell a hand grenade in the Bronx. Federal agents and an NYPD detective were monitoring a conversation being held in a car yesterday between the grenade seller and operative. It was not expected the seller would have the grenade on him at the time, so when he produced it, agents rushed the scene in the interest of public safety. The...

The Thanksgiving Day and Thanksgiving Day Eve have emerged as some of the busiest travel days of the year. While the media shows shots of crowded airports and train stations on the Wednesdays before Thanksgiving (like today), the Bureau of Transportation Statistics says that when personal vehicle travel is included into calculations, "Thanksgiving Day is actually a heavier long-distance travel day [to and from a destination more than 50 or more miles away] than...

Realizing that air traffic congestion is terrible and will be even worse next week during Thanksgiving holiday, President Bush announced that the FAA is working on new ideas, plus military airspace will be opened up for five days to civilian planes. If using military airspace (the "Thanksgiving Express Lane") works well this time around, it may reopened for the Christmas holidays. The other measures the President announced were: FAA will focus on preventing delays...

Democrats Senator Charles Schumer and Senator Dianne Feinstein joined nine Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and approved the nomination of Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey to go to the full Senate. The vote was 11-8, the eight opposing votes from the remaining Democrats on the committee. His confirmation is expected next week. Mukasey - and his supporters - has faced criticism after not declaring waterboarding illegal. Schumer has an op-ed in today's NY Times...

Scotland’s Black Watch is an elite military regiment whose history stretches back almost three centuries. The regiment most recently saw action as part of the British Army’s deployment in Iraq, where seven members lost their lives – five of the men in the space of 11 days in 2004. The National Theatre of Scotland tracked down some of the Black Watch soldiers upon their return to Scotland and, over the course of several months and countless pints of Guinness, playwright Gregory Burke got the men to open up about their experiences. The stories they told, as well as the way they told them, have been woven into a dazzling tapestry of warfare, as seen through the hardened eyes of this now-fading regiment.

Marko Perkovic (known as Thompson on stage, portrayed by Kitler at right) is coming to town, and the protesters are awaiting -- with good reason. The Croatian rock star is known for nostalgically warbling for the Ustaša regime and glorifying the Nazis in his songs, and we can't imagine his anti-Semitism sing-a-longs are going to be very popular here in New York. The musician isn't all about the controversial topics (though it does get him lots of publicity), he also croons tunes about God and family. Can these lighter topics balance out his glorification of war and his nation's Nazi past? No...but he'll be bringing his full set for two shows to the Croatian Center in Midtown next month anyway.

In past concerts, he has performed an anthem of the country's Nazi-backed military regime — the Ustaša — that references extermination camps where tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, and Gypsies were killed during World War II. He greets adoring crowds with a famous Ustaša slogan — and many respond with the Nazi salute.

Continue reading "Neo-Nazis to Rock Midtown"

We recently visited Fox News Channel’s morning show Fox & Friends. Unlike most of the other morning shows it is a freewheeling kind of crazy romp that definitely has “Fox attitude”.

Performance artist and activist Bill Talen, AKA Reverend Billy, has been raising hell in New York City for so long now it’s hard to imagine this town without him. Since first seizing his sidewalk pulpit in the late 90s to combat the Disneyfication of Times Square, the reverend has been consistently down with a host of local and international progressive causes. With the help of his raucous Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, he also puts on a hilarious and inspirational theatrical show. (Not to take anything away from Other Love, his quite moving solo piece.) November will see the release of a documentary concerning the cross-country travels of Reverend Billy and his choir, What Would Jesus Buy?, produced by Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame. Tonight the Reverend brings his righteous lefty heat to Gothamist House; all are invited to come on down and testify.

During his weekly radio address yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg proposed that Governors Island be turned into the site of a sprawling public health institute that he would bankroll with funds from his own private foundation. After the city bought the island for $1 from the federal government several years ago, the former military site and Coast Guard station has been relatively underutilized. Bloomberg's plan envisions an institute that would draw health experts from around the world to work off the southern tip of Manhattan.

Historical ecologists and research cartographers are using historical pre-Revolution military maps produced by the British to create a 21st Century digital rendering of the topography of Manhattan in the 17th Century, before the arrival of European colonists. The New Yorker has a slideshow of a number of images that are attempts to show Manhattan as it was occupied solely by Lenape Indians. The basis for the topographical model was drawn from this 1782 map* drawn up by the British military to help defend the colony from George Washington and the Continental Army. The image above is a rendering of what a 17th Century Times Square looked like in comparison to West 42nd St. today.

People planning weddings - or people wondering why they've seen so many weddings outside lately: Theres a nice article about the trend towards weddings in parks and other public spaces in the city in today's NY Times Style section. With parks - complete with dazzling views - getting cleaner and safer, couples are getting married in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn and Gantry Plaza in Queens. The most important thing to investigate is the kind of permit or permits you may need (depending on the size of your party, whether you have music, chairs, photographers with tripods, etc.). Here's the Parks Department FAQ about events, including weddings in parks. If you're not having a complicated affair (small, no music, no chairs), it's just a $25 permit.

If The New York Times needs a rationale for allegedly discounting the ad rate it offered the advocacy group MoveOn for its ad alleging that General Petraeus was betraying his country my misrepresenting the true state of Iraq, we suggest characterizing it as a loss leader, because a lot of ink is being spilled and paid for in response to it.

The prominent Democratic party donor and California fugitive Norman Hsu's connection to New York City's New School is examined in the NY Times today. Hsu donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to national Democrats like Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, to governors like Eliot Spitzer of NY and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, and NYC politicians like City Council members Christine Quinn and John Liu and City Comptroller William Thompson. Hsu, who had been wanted by California authorities since 1992 for defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme, was going to surrender himself last Wednesday, but ended up on a train to Denver.

From 1910 until 1963, when New York actually had a Pennsylvania Station instead of a dingy 1960s subterranean rat warren beneath a hockey rink and office towers, twenty-two stone eagles stood guard over the McKim, Mead, and White masterpiece. The eagles themselves, along with almost all the other stone artwork on the station were the work of artist Adolph A. Weinman, who among other things created Civic Fame atop the Municipal Building and the Walking Liberty half dollar coin.

Movie blogger Jeffrey Wells counts 12 films about America’s entanglements in the Middle East coming down the pipe this year. It’ll be some feat if even one of them matches the urgency, power and electricity of Iphigenia 2.0, Charle’s Mee’s self-described “sampling” of Euripides’s Iphigenia at Aulis. You may know the essential storyline: Agamemnon’s army is left stranded en route to the Trojan War when the goddess Artemis stifles the wind to punish him for hunting a sacred deer. Before Artemis will let the army sail on, Agamemnon must make it up to Her by personally slitting his daughter Iphigenia’s throat. It’s an unthinkable act that Agamemnon struggles to avoid, but his soldiers ain't having it. Death is certain for some of them; if the man who sends them to it can’t stomach that sacrifice himself, how dare he demand it of others?

Reader Dan got this notice from his Madison Square Park-area building:

THE FAA HAS ADVISED THAT TWO (2) MILITARY F-15 AIRCRAFT WILL BE PERFORMING A FLYOVER OVER NEW YORK CITY AT 1330 HOURS ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 17TH, 2007. THE AIRCRAFT WILL FLY ALONG THE EAST RIVER AND THEN VEER OUT TO THE EAST.

Continue reading "About That F-15 You See Flying Over NYC Today..."

Karl Rove, the political mastermind who maneuvered George W. Bush to the White house twice, will be stepping down from his role as President Bush's political adviser at the end of the month. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rove explained, "I just think it's time. There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family." Rove will be returning to Texas and stay out of politics -for now.

Vehicle checkpoints have been established around the city, concentrating on downtown and from certain jurisdictions. Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne reportedly stressed that the moves were strictly precautionary and that no threat had been verified. So if you notice an increased level of police, military, and air or marine activity around the city tonight, don't become too concerned. It's just standard precautions.