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Bloomberg Says More Immigrants Are Needed

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:38:19 +0000

Photograph by Ozzdo on Flickr Mayor Bloomberg continues to express his dismay over Arizona’s controversial immigration-enforcement law . In an interview with MyFoxNY , he said, “The solution to our problems is more immigration, more immigrants. That’s been true since the Pilgrims settled here. And will continue to be true even more so in the future as we continue to live in a more global technological world.” He explained, “We have to an immigration law that everybody understands and that is enforced. And the ways to do it is very simple. It is four-pronged: You give permanent status, after [they] pay fines, learn English, whatever, to the 12 Million. You reduce the demand for labor from illegal immigrants by enforcing the laws that the companies cannot hire undocumented. And you can only do that if you give them the tools, which is a biometric Social Security card, probably nothing else. You make sure that we go and we provide visas for those that we want. And if you do those things, you have a strategy. If you don’t do those things, it’s not going to work.” When asked, “Is it not of a concern to you that 60 percent of Americans support the Arizona law, and a majority of New Yorkers also support it?” he responded, “I don’t think ‘concern’ is the right word. I think it is shocking and terribly worrisome.” And about the undocumented immigrants in NYC, ” This city depends on these people. This country incidently depends on these people. You would devastate the national economy if by some magic, and that’s the only way you would do it, you would find everybody who was here illegally and deport them.” Right now, a rally is being held at Cadman Plaza to protest Arizona’s law. While a federal judge struck down parts of the law , one of the rally’s organizers told NY1 , “The judge’s decision was really very limited. It’s also temporary. It means that key provisions are actually going to go ahead, such as people being able to sue the police department if they don’t enforce the law; workers are not going to be able to seek work in the streets, which is really important for people seeking day labor.”

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Bloomberg Says More Immigrants Are Needed

The Bronx Wants More Free Water Stations

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:21:06 +0000

Photo via hudson’s flickr Those free water stations are rotating throughout the boroughs—but is the Bronx being left to dehydrate? With ten stations on the move, the borough is only getting one, and only for four days this month. The Daily News reports that in comparison Manhattan will have several stations set up for 24 days this month. City Councilman Oliver Koppell told the paper, “Unfortunately our city government focuses more on Manhattan than on the outer boroughs.” The Water on the Go project was created to encourage people to drink water over sugar-loaded beverages, and as one Columbia professor noted, “The possibility of being overweight in New York City is 86% higher in the Bronx than in Manhattan” (sugary beverages can also lead to dehydration). The Department of Environmental Protection says locations were selected for the amount of foot traffic they get, and from the looks of the schedule , the Bronx isn’t the only borough being left thirsty.

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The Bronx Wants More Free Water Stations

Newt Gingrich Will Permit Mosque Uptown!

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:55:46 +0000

Great news, Muslims! Our arbiter of all things American, Newt Gingrich, has decreed that you may build a mosque on the island of Manhattan! There’s just one condition: It has to be far away from the World Trade Center site. How far is far enough? Newt says near Central Park is permissible, or maybe up around Manhattanville. Last night Gingrich elaborated on what Matt Yglesias has called the “mosque exclusion zone” during an interview an interview on Fox: You know, there are over a hundred mosques in New York City. I favor religious freedom. I’m quite happy if they’d come in and said, “We want to build a community center near Central Park, we’d like to build a community center near Columbia University.” But they didn’t. They said right at the edge of a place where, let’s be clear, thousands of Americans were killed in an attack by radical Islamists. Daily Intel has put together a handy map showing Newt’s No Mosque Zone, ballooning out in an 80 block radius from Ground Zero. The area outside that zone will be ceded to Islam, and any real American leaving the safe zone is advised that he or she will likely encounter individuals who are, in Gingrich’s words , “very hostile to our civilization.” The Landmarks Preservation Commission has not yet ruled on whether the building the mosque would replace deserves landmark status. But last night Community Board 1 voted 24-to-11, with two abstentions, to recommend that the city’s Landmarks deny historic designation for the building at 45-47 Park Place. Before the vote, there was the requisite ranting from the public. Stuart Kaufman of Great Neck, Long Island, declared that ” this is not just a local issue. It was America that was attacked on 9/11. ”

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Newt Gingrich Will Permit Mosque Uptown!

Prospect Park Gets More Geese!

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:40:53 +0000

Photo via dfhdez’s flickr Just weeks after The Man offed 290 Canada geese in Prospect Park, there are already 37 (and counting) back in their place. It’s like a water-drenched, post-midnight snacking scene out of Gremlins ! According to the Brooklyn Paper , the newcomers are getting coddled by the locals, who are feeding them and, allegedly, “setting the stage for another population boom next mating season.” One expert told the paper the population won’t continue to grow at this rate, and no more gassings for the park’s geese are planned for the immediate future. However , an official with the Humane Society points out, “The program kills geese, and then more will fly in—as they have in Prospect Park—and then they’ll have to kill more geese.” At this time, the US Department of Agriculture hasn’t commented on the fact that Prospect Park is over 7 miles away from the city’s airports (and geese were only supposed to be euthanized within that 7 mile radius). For now, it looks like these birds are safe… until Mayor Bloomberg catches wind of them and channels his inner- Elmer Fudd .

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Prospect Park Gets More Geese!

Judge Rules For Family Of Retired Firefighter Who Died On 9/11

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:49:38 +0000

The family of retired FDNY Lt. James Corrigan believes that Corrigan, who retired in 1994, should be listed with other FDNY members who died in the line of duty at the Ground Zero memorial, because he died while helping his brethren. However, the city pointed out he was working in the private sector as a safety coordinator. Yesterday, a judge ruled for the family, saying ,”While this court hesitates to become embroiled in the internal decisions of the FDNY regarding a matter of such a sensitive nature, there is simply no rational basis for the FDNY’s position herein.” According to the Daily News, Queens Supreme Court Justice Augustus Agate pointed out that “Marie Corrigan got death benefits reserved for the families of the fallen and his name was read aloud at an FDNY memorial service in 2002. And her sons, Brendan and Sean, received ‘legacy credits’ on their entrance exams when they both left private-sector jobs to join the FDNY after their father’s death.” While it’s unclear what the city will do next, widow Marie Corrigan was grateful , “We’re just thankful that the judge saw the law as it is. My grandbabies will get to see their grandfather listed where he should be. The ideal situation is he wouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

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Judge Rules For Family Of Retired Firefighter Who Died On 9/11

Ponzi Schemer’s Pole Dancing Wife Won’t Bail Him Out

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:33:29 +0000

Diane Passage, courtesy Pole Riders Celebrity accountant-turned-alleged Ponzi scammer Kenneth Starr has been stuck in Federal custody since the end of May, because he’s had a hard time raising the $2 million bond to get him out. His lawyers are still trying to bail Starr out, having won commitments from two brothers and a friend, but prosecutors are fighting to keep Starr in custody, deeming him a flight risk. To support this claim, prosecutors filed a motion saying that it’s “telling that his wife has not offered to sign any such bond, particularly since, according to multiple witnesses interviewed by the government, she is the only individual who has any modicum of suasion over the defendant.” Gosh, how could that ungrateful ex-stripper refuse to rescue her poor, incarcerated husband? A lawyer for Diane Passage , Starr’s third wife, explains, “They have frozen all her accounts and then wonder why she has no funds to post for bail. If they release her funds, she can post them.” (For good measure, Passage’s lawyer also called the prosecution’s remarks “downright stupid.”) But surely Passage has a few hundred thousand in crumpled singles laying around that she could toss in?

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Ponzi Schemer’s Pole Dancing Wife Won’t Bail Him Out

NYPD Tickets Can No Longer Be "Taken Care Of"

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:19:21 +0000

Finally busted (Flickr user kerfuffle & zeitgeist ) From the biggest traffic violation to the smallest man brown-bagging it on the corner , no summons is going to make it past the NYPD. The department has begun tracking every single summons electronically, making it nearly impossible for cops to throw out tickets issued to friends and family. One police source told the Daily News , “It used to be very easy to have a ticket taken care of…Now, every ticket is accounted for, so if there’s one missing, questions are going to get asked.” But we knew a guy! Though cops could still take pity on those in the loop by just not writing a ticket, once the ticket is in the system it’ll be really difficult to erase. Previously, cops would simply place a copy of the ticket they wrote into the precinct’s “summonses box,” to be transferred to the courts within a day. If they wanted to get rid of the ticket, all they had to do was take it out of the box. But now, each cop will be given a book of 25 blank, pre-scanned tickets at the beginning of their shift, which will link them to the issued summonses. The tickets will then be re-scanned as soon as they return to the precinct. Another source assures that ticket “fixing” isn’t actually a problem , saying, “There is no epidemic of tickets getting tossed because of people saying, ‘Hey, my uncle’s on the job.’ But it does happen.” The new rules apply to parking and moving tickets, as well as “C” summonses for things like quality of life and environmental violations.

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NYPD Tickets Can No Longer Be "Taken Care Of"

Are Asser Levy Park Concerts Still Breaking Noise Code?

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:17:55 +0000

Last month , two synagogues filed suit against the city and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz claiming the Seaside Summer Concert Series at Asser Levy Park was violating noise code. That code stated that the “use of electronic sound amplification equipment at any location within 500 feet of houses of worship during hours of worship” is not allowed. The city quickly moved to tweak that law. Now the Brooklyn Paper reports that the concerts may be violating the new law which was passed last month! The new law states that performances are allowed as long as the noise spillover doesn’t exceed 10 decibels above typical ambient sound. The paper recorded a concert last week, however, and readings outside of the venue would jump over the 10 decibels allowed. They believe this will go even higher on July 29th when George Thorogood plays the series. The question is: why is the borough’s local paper trying to kill this concert series?!

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Are Asser Levy Park Concerts Still Breaking Noise Code?

East Harlem Goes From Mafia Hits To A Target

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:56:07 +0000

Manhattan just received its first Target store, opening yesterday in East Harlem at East River Plaza. While there have been concerns that the big box would shutter smaller, local businesses in the area—one local shopper told the Daily News , “It’s clean. It’s a nice facility, and the people are friendly. I’m all for it.” (Though she may change her tune if the shop takes the same route as the one in Brooklyn .) One longtime local described the retailer moving in as “surreal,” and that could have to do with the area’s past. According to the NY Times , the area’s grim history dates back to at least 1882—when the body of a murdered man was discovered right on the very street Target sits on today: Pleasant Avenue. The violence continued in the area for decades, and even became known as “one of the most famous gangland stretches in the history of the mob.” In fact, one violent scene from The Godfather was even filmed there. If one 14-year-old boy is to be believed, howver, “The Mafia is no more. No gangs. Just regular people” (and now, discount shopping).

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East Harlem Goes From Mafia Hits To A Target

Willis Avenue Bridge Arrives In NYC

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:12:09 +0000

The new Willis Avenue Bridge finished its 110-mile journey today, and will soon be replacing the old bridge from 1901 (which connects 1st Avenue at East 124th Street in Harlem to Willis Avenue at East 134th Street in The Bronx). The bridge traveled on two barges, and this morning made its way underneath a number of the city’s other bridges—including the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. It will now be tied up to the shoreline of the Harlem River until it’s installed on August 9th (it won’t be ready for traffic until November). According to WCBS , the removal of the existing span will take place on September 20th. A reader sent in more photos (which you can see here ); he says, “this morning, I’m washing dishes when I hear, ‘What’s that on the water?’ I go to look. Out in the distance, sliding between Governor’s Island and Red Hook is a 350-foot long steel bridge.” He ended up trailing it on his bike. Did you spot the unusual sight?

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Willis Avenue Bridge Arrives In NYC