A few years back, Macy’s pissed off pretty much all of Brooklyn and Queens by moving their annual fireworks display to the Hudson River, so Hoboken basically got the best view. Those to the east retaliated with firework parties of their own, only occasionally blowing off their own arms. A few days ago, we got a tip indicating that the show might be relocating , but today comes the official word that yet again, the fireworks will be held over the Hudson. [ more › ]
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Suck It, Brooklyn: 4th Of July Fireworks Over The Hudson Again
Since he first was introduced as the new Archbishop of NY in 2009, Timothy Dolan has been direct about his negative feelings toward the idea of gay marriage . But Dolan thinks that you still aren’t getting him, so like all modern Renaissance men, he took to his blog by candlelight and furiously scribed a passionate screed on the history of marriage, why the Catholic Church isn’t anti-gay, and the Orwellian nature of the pro-gay marriage lobby. There’s no way anyone could possibly be offended by any of this, right? Here’s juicy excerpt: [ more › ]
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Archbishop Dolan On Gay Marriage Fight: "Orwellian Social Engineering"
The young boy who escaped a sinking minivan that his mother drove into the Hudson River , drowning herself and his three siblings, received a help hand from the United Athletes Foundation, which held a fundraiser for 10-year-old Lashaun Armstrong. Over $20,000 was raised for him, and the little boy said , “I’m sad because I’m going through a tough time right now. I’m pulling through.” [ more › ]
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NFL Star Helps Raise Money For 10-Yr-Old Hudson River Murder-Suicide Survivor
Today, the funeral is being held for LaShanda Armstrong, the Newburgh woman who drove her minivan into the Hudson River , killing herself and three children (her 10-year-old son escaped). A joint funeral for Armstrong and 5-year-old Landon, 2-year-old Lance and 11-month old Lanaina was originally planned, but the father of the deceased children announced yesterday that the children would be buried apart from their mother . Armstrong’s aunt was seething and told the Daily News, “I am very angry. This jackass just came in here and messed everything up. She should be buried with her children, regardless of what she did.” [ more › ]
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Mother Who Drowned Herself And Three Children Buried Apart From Kids
The tragic drowning murder-suicide of a woman and her three children in the Hudson River grows as it turns out her 10-year-old son managed to open a window and climb out of the sinking minivan. But Lashanda Armstrong, 25, allegedly told little Lashaun and his young siblings , ages 11 months to 5 years old, “If I’m going to die, you’re going to die with me.” Lashaun Armstrong also told the authorities that she grabbed his pants leg, told him, “I made a mistake,” and let him go. [ more › ]
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10-Year-Old Escaped Sinking Minivan, "My Mommy Just Drove The Car In The Water"
Click here to view the full photogallery. Back in the late 19th century, medical techniques for the treatment of mental illness were—how do we put this—not quite as advanced as they might be now. Psychiatric studies and literature of the era focused on the importance of architecture in the treatment of the insane, and some 100 massive mental health facilities were constructed in the United States, adherent to the principles of Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride. Arranged in winged, stepped plans, these structures were designed by some of the preeminent architects of their day, including Calvert Vaux, Frederick Law Olmsted, and H.H. Richardson. Despite the storied architectural pedigree, as the treatment of the insane in such buildings waned, so too did an interest in maintaining the sprawling structures. So today, many of these Victorian era behemoths sit unused and unwanted, thanks to the stigma of their “loony bin” pasts. We’ve collected five of the best examples, in all their run-down glory. Designed in by Pennsylvania architect Samuel Sloan—famous for his still-unfinished Longwood mansion in Natchez, Miss.—the State Lunatic Asylum at Morris Plains (above) was built to address overcrowding at New Jersey’s Trenton Asylum. More commonly known as Greystone, the building opened in 1877 and first welcomed 342 patients. By 1954, the patient population had grown to an astonishing 7,674, before the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1970s came along. In 2000, after a decades of scandal, the site was ordered closed by the Governor of New Jersey and was sold to Morris County for $1. Click here to view the full photogallery. ↑ Designed by architectural royalty, the Buffalo State Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y. must have seemed destined for permanence when it was finally completed in 1895. After all, it had taken 24 years to finish the Richardson-designed colossus and the surrounding gardens by Olmstead and Vaux. By then, overcrowding was such an issue in other hospitals that Richardson curved the walls of the structure so that the placement of beds in public rooms would be difficult and inefficient. Still, even this forward thinking approach wasn’t enough to save the buildings. Today, while maintained in a most basic sense by the state, the hospital has fallen into shambles. There is talk of converting the structure into an architecture museum for the city of Buffalo. Click here to view the full photogallery. ↑ There’s another neglected New York asylum in Poughkeepsie, along the banks of the Hudson River. The Hudson River State Hospital opened in 1871 on land once owned by the Roosevelt family. Today, it is an odd amalgam of abandoned and inhabited spaces, with plans in place to redevelop the existing structure. Those plans had a setback thanks to a devastating 2007 fire in the south wing, with the downturn in the property market, we’d be surprised if the project resumed as planned. Click here to view the full photogallery. ↑ The asylum in Worcester, Mass.—the Worcester State Hospital —cost nearly a million dollars to construct in 1877. Designed by George Dutton Rand, it was an imposing, fortress-like stone structure and, according to historians, was contrary to the wishes of the hospital superintendent, who had hoped to build smaller houses arranged like a village. In 1991, a massive fire swept through the facility, rendering large portions uninhabitable. After a series of demolitions and the building of a more modern facility, only the clock tower and circular hall remain standing. Click here to view the full photogallery. ↑ Demolition isn’t the only option for these impressive Victorian buildings, as the Danvers State Hospital can attest. Even after falling into disrepair and developing a reputation as a supernatural site so notorious it spawned a horror flick, the hospital was redeveloped into a residential project by mega-developer Avalon. Who were the victims in this scary movie? Why, none other than an asbestos remediation crew sent to clean up the mess. That must have been a stressful project. Check out the product, below. Click here to view the full photogallery. · Kirkbride Buildings [official site] · History [Preserve Graystone] · Buffalo State Hospital [Kirkbride Buildings] · Hudson River State Hospital [Kirkbride Buildings] · Worcester State Hospital [Kirkbride Buildings] · Danvers State Insane Asylum [fan site] · Session 9 [IMDb] · Avalon Danvers [official site]
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Architectural Record: The Creepy, Decrepit State of the Abandoned Kirkbride Asylums
Just as Mayor Bloomberg was announcing his ” Vision 2020 ” plan for our miles and miles of waterfront, one of the the crown jewels of the Park’s Department is looking for cash. The Hudson River Park, which will eventually hit 550 acres when it finishes around 2018, has started the process to create a neighborhood improvement district to raise funds for its budget with new taxes. [ more › ]
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Hudson River Park Latest To Consider Levying A BID Tax
The Rhode Island woman who was raped by hotel employee Jaime Marin Lopez Mendoza while staying at Midtown’s Dream Hotel in December 2009 isn’t about to let the horrific incident go. A month after her rapist was sent to jail for 15 years she’s filed a lawsuit Surrey Hotel Associates, the Hotel’s parent company. [ more › ]
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"Nightmare" Rape Victim Sues Dream Hotel For Hiring Rapist
The Hudson River is home to a colorful cast of creatures, from baby seals to handguns to 4.4 million gallons of sewage . And you can now add mutated freak fish to that list! [ more › ]
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Feisty Mutated Fish Unlikely Hudson River Survivors
The poor Queen of Hearts paddle-wheel party boat is totally burned out from the non-stop party lifestyle, but the haggard old broad just can’t seem to turn it around. This afternoon she was found floating alone and unmanned in the Hudson River, pitifully trying to start a new life somewhere over in Weehawken, where she was apprehended by three NY Waterway ferries and the harbor patrol. It’s unclear how the Queen became unmoored from Pier 40, but NBC reports that a tug boat promptly brought her home. Pop a Xanax and put on your mascara, hon, you’ve got a Valentine’s Day cruise Saturday night ! [ more › ]
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West Side Party Boat Tries to Escape Party Enslavement