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Subway Cell Phone, Wi-Fi Service Will Work in Most Tunnels

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:10:31 +0000

When it was announced earlier this week that the long-delayed subway cell phone project was lurching forward, some of you were upset that the signal would not extend into the subway tunnels, thereby depriving you of priceless ” Overheard in NY ” material. But don’t worry; one of the companies that won the contract, Q-Wireless, says cell phone users with vital information to impart will be able to get a signal in most subway tunnels. And it’ll work for Nextel chirp phones, too! Coverage will extend between stations where stops are relatively close to each other and tunnels are wide enough, and will be strongest in wider tunnels with express and local tracks, because the signal needs room to spread out to be most effective. “That’s how it works, that’s the physics of it,” Q-Wireless CEO Alex Mashinsky tells the Daily News . Transit Wireless (the joint venture that includes Q-Wireless) has up to two years to outfit six stations to test the technology, then another four years to rig up the rest of the 277 underground stations. But it will only work if cell phone companies reach an agreement with Transit Wireless. “If consumers really want this, they are going to have to make some noise,” he said. As if they needed any encouragement.

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Subway Cell Phone, Wi-Fi Service Will Work in Most Tunnels

8 Men Sought In Fatal January Stabbing By China Club

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:47:48 +0000

Police are asking New Yorkers to be on the lookout for these eight men, who are wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 22-year-old man outside the China Club in January. Witnesses say Kenyatta Cotterell, the father of a 3-year-old son, got into an altercation with the men around 4 a.m. on January 23rd after one of his friends flirted with the girlfriend of another man. Cotterell’s brother told the Daily News , “It was really pointless. We were fighting over nothing.” Cotterell, who was stabbed in the chest near the club at West 46th and 8th Avenue and found at West 45 Street and 7 Avenue, was pronounced dead that morning at St. Vincent’s hospital. Two other men were also stabbed in the chest, but survived. The murder weapon was never recovered. Investigators made one arrest in February based on surveillance footage, but a grand jury would not indict the suspect. Investigators say these men—who apparently share an affinity for the Yankees and an apprenticeship with an avuncular older gentleman—are “people of interest.” The NYPD isn’t saying how they became interested or how they obtained the photos, but they’re asking anyone with information to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS. (Tips can also be text-messaged to 274637 then enter TIP577.)

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8 Men Sought In Fatal January Stabbing By China Club

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

Hybrid Cab Fleet Knocked by Appeals Court

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:13:49 +0000

A federal appeals court rejected the city’s attempt to force cab drivers to switch to hybrid vehicles yesterday, saying regulating fuel efficiency is the federal government’s job. The decision, which upheld a 2009 ruling that the city’s efforts were an attempt to mandate fuel economy , is the latest in a line of roadblocks. Regarding yesterday’s decision, city lawyer Michael Cardozo said, “We do not believe that Congress intended for the Clean Air Act or the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to prohibit local governments from implementing incentive programs that encourage the purchase of environmentally friendly taxis.” If the city wants to appeal again, they’ll have to take it to the US Supreme Court .

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Hybrid Cab Fleet Knocked by Appeals Court

Barricades, Sanitation Trucks, Cops Protect Obama

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:03:09 +0000

President Obama is currently taping a segment at the studios of The View on the Upper West Side. Onlookers were greatly outnumbered by police, but that could have something to do with the various sanitation trucks and barricades set up on the quiet Upper West Side street (yup, if you saw the pictures of the set up outside Vogue editor Anna Wintour’s Greenwich Village house, the scene of one of two Manhattan fundraisers Obama will be attending, it’s that…uneventful). Some people were debating health care reform while others were wondering when the president would emerge. The closest to a complaint about Obama that we heard was, “There are no cabs in front of the building because Obama’s here .” He’s heading to East 57th next and then the Village .

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Barricades, Sanitation Trucks, Cops Protect Obama

Russian Woman Arrested For Smuggling Night Vision Scopes

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:18:08 +0000

Forget this being the summer of sharks—it’s the summer of Russians behaving badly! First, it was a cadre of “deep cover spies,” including a NYC party girl . Now it’s a cosmetology student who was trying to smuggle night vision scopes back to Mother Russia. Anna Fermanova, who lives in Texas now, was stopped at JFK Airport back in March because, according to the Smoking Gun , “The weapons sights cannot be exported without approval from the Department of State since the items are considered munitions covered by the Arms Export Control Act.” Fermanova was arrested earlier this month, after she returned from her overseas trip. Apparently she was being investigated back in February, as she was looking for a Raptor 4X Night Vision Weapons Sight, which the feds say is “designed to be affixed to a rifle, such as the M4 assault rifle.” Plus, the serial numbers and other ID numbers were blacked out on the sight and other night vision items she had her bags. However, her lawyer claims she was going to sell the scopes to big game hunters—hey, aren’t humans the big game?—and tells the Daily News that it “looks a lot worse than it really is… She’s a nice Jewish girl who lives with her sweet Latvian parents. There’s no terrorism link. There’s no espionage.” Fermanova is currently at her parents’ home in Texas; she’s due in Brooklyn Federal Court later this summer. She told the Post , “I am a US citizen. I grew up in America. I am not a spy — that is just funny. I am freaking out right now.” The Smoking Gun notes inevitable comparisons to Anna Chapman, ” As seen here , like the 28-year-old Chapman, Fermanova’s Facebook page is stocked with photos likely to make her a tabloid favorite.” Or, as Gawker put it , “According to her booking papers, Anna is 5′6″ and has a belly ring. According to Facebook, she likes slutty Halloween costumes and pointing at the camera when she’s drunk.”

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Russian Woman Arrested For Smuggling Night Vision Scopes

City Settles Sean Bell Shooting For $7.15 Million

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:45:41 +0000

Photograph taken in December 2006 by Casa de Darnoc on Flickr The city reached a settlement with the family of Sean Bell, who was fatally shot by the police on the eve of his wedding in November 2006 . His family will receive $3.25 million; his friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, who also injured from the 50 shots fired by undercover police, will receive $3 million and $900,000 respectively. The NYC Law Department Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said, “The Sean Bell shooting highlighted the complexities our dedicated officers must face each day. The City regrets the loss of life in this tragic case, and we share our deepest condolences with the Bell family.” Bell was leaving a bachelor party at Club Kalua, a strip club in Jamaica, Queens, when undercover police officers, on the scene to make prostitution arrests, believed Bell and his friends were armed. Then a chaotic scene unfolded: The undercover detectives claimed they identified themselves and told Bell, Guzman and Benefield to get out of the car while drawing their guns , but it’s unclear if Bell, who was driving, heard them and drove into the cops upon seeing the drawn guns. When Guzman reached for his waistband, the police thought they were going to be fired upon, so they fired in return. It turned out that none of the men were armed. Bell’s fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, told the Daily News , “I believe the settlement is fair. No amount of money can provide closure for losing Sean. I don’t think there will ever be closure,” adding, “What’s important is my fight doesn’t end now.” The News says she is pushing state legislatures to pass a package of laws to reform the Civilian Complaint Review Board, require drug testing when cops fire their guns and ban arrest quotas.” Paultre Bell’s and Bell’s two daughters are now 4 and 7 years old; the children will receive the money because she and Bell were not married at the time when he was killed (she later took his last name ). Guzman said , “I don’t think a black or Hispanic man’s life means much in this city.” Guzman still has four bullets in his back, “I deal with so much pain, I don’t even feel it.” Michael Palladino, the head of the Detectives Endowment Association, said the settlement was “laughable” and “absurd,” “The taxpayer is on the hook for $7 million and the lawyers walk away with $2 million and the one with the most culpability here is Sean Bell. There’s something wrong with that picture, because if you take a look at the situation in its entirety, it’s that the police were there performing their lawful duty; Bell was intoxicated and he tried to run the police down.” In 2008, three of the police officers were found not guilty of charges including manslaughter, reckless endangerment and assault.

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City Settles Sean Bell Shooting For $7.15 Million

Lennon’s Killer Up For Parole Again

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:58:00 +0000

It’s been just over two years since Mark David Chapman was last up for parole for killing John Lennon. At the time, Yoko Ono said, “It’s dangerous for him to come out. Not only for us, but for himself. There are so many people out there who dislike him. It’s safer for him to stay in jail.” The parole board stated his release “would not be in the best interest of the community,” and denied him parole for the 5th time. Chapman has said in the past that Lennon would have forgiven him (and below is an interview he did with Barbara Walters, where he describes the night he killed Lennon). As the 30th anniversary of that night approaches (on December 8th), Chapman is up for parole once again—his sentence was 20 years to life. According to the Daily News , he is scheduled to be interviewed by a parole board panel the week of August 9th, and has had a clean record since 1994 (he’s even allowed conjugal visits!). Ono’s lawyer, Peter Shukat, says she has once again sent a letter to the parole board opposing Chapman’s release—in her previous letter she stated, “myself and John’s two sons would not feel safe for the rest of our lives.”

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Lennon’s Killer Up For Parole Again

Outrage Over Film Deal For Taconic Wrong Way Driver’s Family

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:42:01 +0000

Photograph of Diane Schuler with her husband Danny, son Bryan and daughter Erin Yesterday, the NY Post reported that a film production company had paid the family of Diane Schuler $100,000 “to exhume her body and test the remains to see whether she suffered a stroke.” Naturally, there’s anger over the deal, because Schuler was, according to toxicology reports , drunk and high when she was driving the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and ultimately crashed into another car, killing herself, her daughter, her three nieces and three passengers in another car. The son and brother of two victims in the other car said, “It’s pretty pathetic that [Danny Schuler]’s cashing in on his wife — the murderer who killed seven innocent people. It’s disgraceful.” Diane Schuler had been returning to her Long Island home from a camp site when the crash occurred on July 26, 2009 ; the only survivor was her son Bryan. After the tox reports were released, her husband defended her , saying, “She is not an alcoholic and my heart is rested every night when I go to bed,” and insisting she was sober before driving, suggesting instead that she had a stroke or a condition related to her diabetes. Danny Schuler’s lawyer Dominic Barbara confirmed that he brokered the deal with Liz Garbus’s and Rory Kennedy’s Moxie Firecracker Films . Moxie Firecracker told Newsday that the $100,000 figure was incorrect, “A modest stipend was paid for activities related to the making of the film. It is not uncommon to pay for materials and research when making an investigative film.” And Barbara says the money will go into a trust for Bryan. The film is supposedly an investigative documentary that would air on HBO. HBO told the Journal News , “An exhumation could only take place if it’s ordered by a court, next of kin or a legal representative. It’s not something that the filmmakers would be doing.” Danny Schuler had wanted more toxicology reports and an exhumation, but couldn’t afford to do so last year . Michael Bastardi Jr., whose father and brother were killed in an SUV going the right way on the Taconic (their friend was also killed), said, “To give someone the rights to exhume your wife’s body is disgraceful.” And at a memorial for his three daughters, who were 5, 7, and 9 at the time of the crash, Diane Schuler’s brother Warren Hance had a message, which a priest communicated , “Please don’t pray for my children, pray to my children, they’re saints.”

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Outrage Over Film Deal For Taconic Wrong Way Driver’s Family

Chelsea Clinton’s Porta-Potties Nicer Than Your Apartment

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:22:10 +0000

When you invite an estimated 500 people to your wedding, they’re going to need a place to do their business. So if you have a budget of over $2 million , why not treat them to the best? TMZ got a look at the porta-potties Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky will supply at their wedding, which look like they have the square footage of most New York apartments—and more storage space too! Seriously, what are they storing under those sinks, Linda Tripp? The Clintons have reserved 4-6 of the trailers for the big day, which feature flushing toilets and stereo music , just to get the guests in the mood. The cost? $15,000. Few know who will actually enjoy the luxury of relieving themselves in such opulence, but the consensus is that they’ll all be famous. The Daily News lists Oprah and President Obama as invitation recipients, though Obama most likely won’t be making an appearance. If he did, the town of Rhinebeck, NY ( where all speculations about location lead) would have to up its police budget even more. Already the town has approved an extra $2,500 for police coverage, and guests will have to surrender any smart phones and provide credentials. Good to know this wedding will be better secured than the White House. Locals are hoping the extra costs (which one resident thought should be paid by the Clintons) will amount to nothing compared to all the business the Hudson Valley town will be getting. Suzanna Hermans, a co-owner of Oblong Books, told the Times , “Money is still tight around here. One week to the next is completely different. We’re hoping in the long run this will bring people to Rhinebeck.” Soon, everyone will be having weddings in the Hudson Valley. Wedding planner Diann Valentine says the event is “bigger and more important than a celebrity wedding. It will certainly be the most influential of setting trends. If anything becomes public knowledge it will immediately set a trend.” And we didn’t think anything could be more important than a celebrity wedding!

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Chelsea Clinton’s Porta-Potties Nicer Than Your Apartment