Sarah Palin on the guilty verdict for the guy who hacked into her Yahoo email account : “America’s elections depend upon fair competition. Violating the law, or simply invading someone’s privacy for political gain, has long been repugnant to Americans’ sense of fair play. As Watergate taught us, we rightfully reject illegally breaking into candidates’ private communications for political intrigue in an attempt to derail an election.”
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Hacked Email Account, Watergate Of Palin’s Time
Via Deadspin Starting tomorrow, the Jets will be holding Flight Crew tryouts for their cheerleading squad, but it seems like they should consider real-life flight instructions for their players first. New Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes reportedly refused to take off his iPod on a plane ride last night from Newark to Pittsburgh, and authorities at Pittsburgh International Airport filed an incident report (but no charges). What will this do to his sterling reputation??? Holmes had previously been suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy (and maybe a little bit for this picture ). Also, who among us can say they haven’t ever tried to keep their iPod on during take-offs and landings? Probably not Coach Rex Ryan, who commented on the situation: “I don’t know all the facts. I know what’s been told to me, and it kind of got blown out of proportion it sounds like in some of the media outlets. When I’ve been around him, he’s been tremendous…I don’t think this incident is as big as what’s out there.”
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Santonio Holmes Busted… For Not Turning Off His iPod
Espada pulls off his microphone and says, “I’ve had it,” before storming off the set of CBS 2′s “Eye On New York” on April 23rd. An anonymous whistleblower is dishing more dirt on Senator Pedro Espada’s non-profit Soundview health clinics, which are at the center of two lawsuits by the Attorney General, as well as investigations by the FBI and IRS . What this former Soundview employee tells CBS2 won’t come as much surprise if you’ve been following along with the Espada scandal, but it’s always nice to hear more about Espada’s shady underbelly. “He thinks the money that is brought in at Soundview, whether it is by grant or donation, belong to him,” says the informant, who goes on to explain how Espada (allegedly) illegally uses Soundview as a front for his political campaigns: I was at Soundview on the second floor. Far end, there’s another area where it’s hidden from the public. That was where the [campaign] phone calls were being made. I was stuffing envelopes. I went to a polling place to pass flyers in the community so that people would vote for him… He had Soundview employees go to polling sites during the election and they would have to be doing that kind of work as opposed to be working at Soundview. There’s the threat that if we don’t do what we tell you we can easily replace you. For every person there there’s 100 people wanting their job. They were very much manipulated, intimidated and they had fear that if they didn’t do what they were told to do they could lose their jobs. Meanwhile, a major Democratic donor, Bill Samuels, has pledged a minimum of $250,000 to a campaign to try and oust Espada in the next election. “Pedro Espada represents all that is wrong with state government today,” Samuels said in a statement . “He’s a wealthy guy from one of the wealthiest parts of Westchester who lines his pockets with taxpayer money yet fails to address the real needs of his district — in which he doesn’t even live.”
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Espada Whistleblower: Soundview Is His "Personal Piggy Bank"
Flickr user John Zwinck A Pace student dressed as a subway track worker set off a terror scare inside the tunnel connecting the Borough Hall and Bowling Green stations early this morning when five flares were found in his backpack. NYC Transit employees reported him to police after he failed to produce identification, but police now believe the student was actually trying to kill himself, as two liters of water and a quart container of cyanide were also found in the 20-year-old’s backpack. NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne told the Daily News , “This was not a terrorist plot. We believe it was part of a plan for an individual to kill himself alone.” The student, reportedly named Fetto, was found wearing a hard hat, a reflective vest and knee-high boots inside the tunnel around 5:30 this morning, and taken to anti-terrorism police at the Bowling Green station. He later told police he had jumped onto the tracks at the Fulton Street station in order to find a discreet spot in which he would mix the cyanide pellets with water and ingest the mixture. When heated, the mixture can create a poisonous gas. Browne said he wanted to find a hidden spot so “his body wouldn’t be found.” Police believe he was not attempting a terrorist attack, but charges are pending.
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Pace Student’s Suicide Try Triggers Subway Terror Scare
We’re not surprised that the NYPD press office repeatedly ignored our requests for comment about why, where and WTF cops were doing cutting bike locks and seizing bikes without notice along Obama’s motorcade route. Nor were we surprised that NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told the Times , “All vehicles, including 165 cars and 30 bikes were removed as a precaution in advance of the presidential motorcade. Notices were posted two days in advance.” (We haven’t heard from anyone who saw such a notice about the bikes, and does this look like just 30 bikes to you?) And it’s not surprising that the NYPD has been blowing off City Councilman Peter Vallone , either—but that doesn’t make it any less outrageous. Vallone, the chairman of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, fired off a letter to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly the day after the incident, which police later explained away as a security precaution to protect the president from bike bombs. Vallone wrote , “Please provide information regarding the following questions: Why did this occur? How often does this occur? What alternatives were considered but not used? What type of notice was given to the community? When and where were the bikes available for retrieval? Was this action based on any specific threat? Thank you for your courtesy and cooperation and I look forward to your response.” That was a week ago. In the meantime, infuriating video surfaced of NYPD officers confiscating bikes on Houston Street, and at least on bike owner said he wants to sue . Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, who previously filed a lawsuit against the city over the NYPD’s practice of confiscating bikes during Critical Mass Rides, says, “We need a better plan. Cyclists should have notice regarding removal of their bicycles from the street and how to recover their bikes if confiscated.”
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NYPD Talks to Times About Bike Seizure, But Not City Council
A mother duck and her 11 newly hatched ducklings were reunited after some well-meaning New Yorkers tried to lead the newborns to safety , and ended up scaring the mother off in the process. Born in a nest in the middle of the Park Ave median, the mother tried to lead her ducklings into the tulips, but flew away when one local tried to help the ducklings over with her newspaper. City Parks Rangers attempted to lure the mother back after putting the ducklings in a basket, hoping their cries would attract her. It worked, and the Rangers led the family through traffic and into Central Park. And now there are baby ducks in the lake by the Boathouse! Check out the photos .
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Ducks Hatched On Park Ave Median Led to Safety!
Jeffrey Conroy, the swastika-tattooed 19-year-old found guilty of manslaughter for killing an Ecuadorian immigrant , is showing remorse for his crimes, and his family says he’s actually a stand up guy. According to them he has lots of Hispanic friends, listens to hip hop and is even dating a Bolivian girl. In an interview with the Times , Conroy says he felt sympathy for Marcelo Lucero’s family, especially his brother. He said in the courtroom “I would just look at him and then I would look away. I feel bad for him. I got a brother, too. I couldn’t imagine him dying.” He also says that, despite the tattoo he got as a joke, he isn’t the person he seems like in the papers. “I’m not a white supremacist or anything like that. I’m not this serious racist kid everyone thinks I am.” Prosecutors believed Conroy had an intent to kill because the blade he used went all the way into Lucero’s chest and was stopped only by the handle. However, Conroy said it was not his idea, and that his friends were only going to beat up immigrants in a practice called “beaner hopping,” but they had no intent to kill them. He initially signed a five-page confession saying he stabbed Lucero, but testified during the trial that he was just holding the bloody knife for a friend . Conroy faces 8 to 25 years in prison for manslaughter as a hate crime.
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Hate Crime Killer: "I’m Not This Serious Racist Kid"
AP Photo Baby… lion… triplets. Does it get any cuter? The trio (one male and two females) made their debut this week at the Bronx Zoo , and it was all captured on video (though if you want to see them live, you can check them out between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.). Spoiler alert: there’s tumbling, swatting, rolling around, and all sorts of adorableness. The babes were born in late January and already weight around 25 lbs each, which is nothing compared to the 350 mark they’ll likely reach. Mama lioness Sukari and daddy lion M’wasi have been so busy they haven’t had time to name the newest additions to their family, so the Daily News has taken over and is taking reader submissions.
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Video: Bronx Zoo Debuts Cute Lion Cubs
At the taxi share stand on Columbus Avenue between 72nd and 73rd Streets The Taxi and Limousine Commission is pressing ahead with more locations for shared taxi rides. According to the Wall Street Journal , next up are the Port Authority Bus Terminal—passengers would be able to head from there to 59th Street and 6th Avenue for $3—and either LaGuardia or JFK Airports to a to-be-determined Midtown destination. These would be the first locations from facilities were there are actually taxi stands. Last month, the TLC unveiled three locations on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Midtown West—all end at Grand Central— and the plan hasn’t really caught on . TLC Commissioner David Yassky said he believes in the program, “I love this idea. It’s a win all around if we can make it work. You have to do some waiting until people get comfortable with the notion of sharing a cab.” The shared taxi plan from either LGA or JFK airports would have a $20 flat fee per customer. Yassky thinks the shared plan would mean more money for drivers, who have so far been wary of the taxi share plan. The WSJ adds, “Mr. Yassky said he’s also considering creating stands for livery cabs in the other four boroughs, where yellow taxis are much harder to come by. That way, riders could walk to a central location where they’d have a better chance of hiring a car.”
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Taxi Share Headed To Port Authority Bus Terminal, Airport
Prison themes and burning metal orbs may not be fit for playgrounds, and perhaps the Parks Department has the fear in them now when picking new pieces, but their latest unveiling is just… [blank stare]. CityRoom reports that earlier this week a new jungle gym was presented to residents in the Bronx, and it’s shaped like the first rotary printing press—known as the “lightning press”—invented in 1846 by Richard March Hoe. Just what every child wants! There was some reasoning behind the somewhat quirky design. It resides in Printers Park , which is on the grounds of Hoe’s former estate. In a press release the Parks Department explained: “the white concrete at the corner entrance suggests the paper entering the ‘printing press’ play equipment, ending at the spray shower.” Makes us wonder what a blogging jungle gym might look like.
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Parks Dept. Presents Printing Press Playground