Results tagged “yonkers”

A surprising report in the March issue of Men's Health asserts that Boston is the "least drunk" city in all the land. You really don't need to read much further to realize this news is wicked retarded, but what makes it even more ridonkulous is that the Irish and college capital of America ranks even higher on the sobriety scale than Salt Lake City, which is fourth "least drunk." And ranking #2 for least drunk is Yonkers, which is such a dreary place you need a drink just to get through it on Metro North. more ›

The woman who drove a minivan full of her children and nieces the wrong way on the Taconic yesterday was feeling ill, but there is no indication of drugs or alcohol being involved in Westchester's worst accident in 75 years. Diane Schuler of West Babylon was on her way home from a weekend camping trip upstate when she called her brother on Long Island to say that she felt sick—apparently so ill that he offered to come get her if she would pull over. However, she didn't know where she was exactly and two hours later, she veered onto the other side of the highway. Schuler, 36, apparently had been on the wrong side for 2 miles before crashing head first into an SUV, killing all three Yonkers men inside it—father and son Michael and Guy Bastardi and their friend Daniel Longo. Schuler, her two-year-old daughter Erin and her three young nieces—Emma, Alison and Kate Hance— all died in the crash. The only survivor was Schuler's five-year-old son Brian, who is amazingly in stable condition. A secondary collision with a Chevy Tracker left a Freehold couple with minor cuts that they were treated for. Police now await autopsy and toxicology results to learn more details of Schuler's condition. more ›

The hailstorm that hit Yonkers on Monday definitely left a trail of destruction in Yonkers. Thanks to the 80 MPH winds, a tree fell into Jennifer Crespo's home's chimney, which then crashed into her 7-year-old son's bedroom. Thankfully, little Trent slept in the basement—his parents didn't want to move him since he looked so peaceful; the boy told the Daily News, "I would be dead, and my mommy would be crying a whole lot," while his mom wept, "I'm just so grateful my son wasn't in his bed because it's covered with bricks." And 89-year-old Grace Martini shared a photograph of her basement—filled with three feet of hail! The NY Times spoke to the National Weather Service's Joe Polina, who said El Nino and global warming weren't the culprits, "Normally, we do see thunderstorms, some of which do become severe in spring and summer, but this year, especially with the amount of rain, it’s been a little on the abnormal side." Further, "The culprit is the polar jet stream: a fast-moving air current that controls the movement of fronts and weather systems and is usually north of New York by summer, he said. This year, the jet stream has stayed on a southerly course, causing more storms to develop." more ›

Thanks to our coup-coup State Senate, the city has frozen all hiring. The State Senate hasn't been able to act on legislation that allows the city to maintain a balanced budget; Mayor Bloomberg said, "The gridlock in the State Senate imperils the City’s budget," and the hiring freeze "includes a class of 250 Police Recruits, who were set to enter the academy this week, along with Firefighters, School Safety Agents, 911 and 311 call takers, and EMTs. Further, we will be reviewing all City contracts to ensure we do not enter into non-essential contracts. We have a legal mandate to produce a balanced budget - something we’ve done for seven consecutive years - so we have to act responsibly." Also under pressure from the Senate's inaction: Yonkers, which is the 4th largest city in the state and which needs the Senate to pass bills so the State Comptroller can approve its budget. more ›

A quarrel between two roommates on the Upper West Side left one dead yesterday, stabbed several times inside his apartment. Police responded to a 911 call around 12:30 p.m. yesterday and discovered the body of the 51-year-old victim already deceased when they arrived on the sixth floor of 145 W 71st Street. West Side Spirit reports that elevators were shut down and the SWAT team called in as part of the initial response. Eventually police tracked down the roommate, 51-year-old Frederick Zappulla, in Yonkers after he had allegedly confessed to the crime to his brother. Zappulla was charged with second-degree murder after police interrogated him for several hours. The Post says that the victim worked as a cleaner and had lived in the building for over thirty years. more ›

Last week, a man's body was found in a suitcase, at a park in Yonkers (the dead man's leg fell out of the suitcase when a park worker went to inspect). Now an autopsy has found that the man had 50 heroin packets in his body. Police think he died when one or two broke open. Westchester County police said that the street value of the drugs was about $100,000. They do not think the man was killed by drug dealers, since the dealers would "have cut his body open for drugs." A police spokesman said, "How he got to the park with the drugs still inside him is still piece of the puzzle." more ›

The Yonkers police officer accused of throwing a woman onto a restaurant floor is saying that he did so because the woman was drunk and interfering with police. Irma Marquez is suing Yonkers police for $11 million for being body-slammed face-first into a tile floor by veteran officer Wayne Simoes last year. Marquez was in the hospital for days with a broken jaw and intense bruising on her face. She says she was attacked while trying to attend to her niece who was hit with a bottle. The accusation that she was intoxicated came out in court on Friday. Marquez's lawyer says that two other officers have already testified that she wasn't getting in the way. more ›

Jim Fullington, better known as ECW champion "The Sandman," was finally able to post his $10,000 bail and leave a Westchester County jail. Fullington had been arrested on Sunday night, after getting into an altercation with restaurant workers (and, later, the police) during Captain Lou Albano's 75th birthday in Yonkers. Fullington had prior out-of-state felonies on his record (like burglaries when he was 20) that held up the bail hearings. Fullington and his lawyer will return to court next week to discuss the charges; his lawyer thinks some of them are too severe and added he did not believe his client had "roid rage." more ›

Take one Yonkers restaurant, add a number of professional wrestlers celebrating Captain Lou Albano's 75th birthday, and you get Jim "The Sandman" Fullington losing it-- to the point where a SWAT team had to be called in to settle the matter. La Lanterna employees called the police because Fullington was throwing glasses at them; the Journal News reports that by the time police arrived, Fullington was "still flinging glasses from a tray at employees" and then even threw glasses at the cops, too. (A witness told the Post that Fullington and La Lanterna's owner had gotten into a fight, and the owner pulled a beer bottle on the wrestler.) Fullington was charged with resisting arrest, assault, criminal mischief and more. more ›

An 8-year veteran of the Yonkers police department was arrested for allegedly "body-slamming" a woman at a restaurant in 2007. Wayne Simoes was arrested and charged, per the U.S. Attorney's office, "with violation of federal civil rights laws" because it's illegal to for law enforcement to use "excessive force..the course of an arrest, stop, or seizure." more ›

Cops made quick work of the case of the murder of a livery cab driver, who was allegedly killed by two teens who have now been arrested. Early yesterday morning, police were searching for suspects after a fight broke out inside a livery cab that left its driver dead with multiple stab wounds to his chest and abdomen. After being stabbed, Geraldo Guttierez tried to make it to a hospital, but was too badly injured.

Mortally wounded, his car then careened into a utility pole outside 270 Saw Mill River Road, smashing up the vehicle. Gutierrez was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2 a.m., according to a hospital spokesman.

In less than a week, it'll be all Pope Benedict, all the time. And right now, it practically seems that way already, with planners working overtime to make sure the Papal Visit goes off without a hitch. The NY Times has a great article about the logistics involved with the April 20 mass at Yankee Stadium: "How do 530 priests and deacons give communion to 57,000 people in 14 minutes?" There's even a related graphic outlining the difficulty of navigating various parts of Yankee Stadium. more ›

A fight outside a Yonkers bar that cost a man his vision in one eye, may cost a number of NYPD members professionally. One of the participants in the brawl on the border of the Westchester city and the Bronx, Thomas Wimmer, has already resigned from the force. Three other officers are suspended without pay after their arraignment Friday on misdemeanor charges related to a beating on McLean Ave. that cracked a man's skull. more ›