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PETA Packages Human Flesh In Times Square

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:40:17 +0000

PETA got back to their “Meat Is Murder” basics earlier this week, wrapping up their members in cellophane, drenching them in fake blood, and letting them bake in the summer sun in Times Square. The organization blogged about the event, saying their mission was to get across that “all meat comes from somebody. And when you show human bodies in those neatly plastic-wrapped supermarket packages, the point hits home and it begins to look like a grisly scene from Dexter .” (Speaking of Dexter , this new season is going to be intense .) Would you Go Veg after stumbling upon this scene? If not, the organization also says that according to a new study , the more meat people eat, the more weight they gain over time—and chicken is allegedly the big culprit. They say, “researchers found that the people who were most likely to gain weight were also those who ate the most chicken, followed by processed meats and red meat. For every additional 8.8 ounces of meat that people ate daily, they packed on about four and a half extra pounds over five years.”

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PETA Packages Human Flesh In Times Square

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

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

Rangel: Today Might Be As Bad As Korean War

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:28:56 +0000

Rep. Charles Rangel is getting all reminiscent now that ethics charges against him may be revealed at 1 p.m. He told reporters this morning , “Sixty years ago I survived a Chinese attack in North Korea and as a result I haven’t had a bad day since. But today I have to reassess that statement.” He can avoid having all the gory details of the charges publicly announced if he reaches a settlement .

Judge: Wearing Saggy Pants Is Not A Crime

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:12:31 +0000

In a hotly anticipated ruling, a Bronx judge has handed down his decision in the matter of the People v. Saggy Pants. Or, to be more precise, the People v. Julio Martinez, who was issued a disorderly conduct summons on 4/20 last year because he was wearing “his pants down below his buttocks exposing underwear [and] potentially showing private parts.” If the summons had been upheld, the ensuing ticket frenzy could have easily hoisted NYC out of its budget crunch, with money left over for a monorail. But slacktivist judge Ruben Franco has ruled that saggy pants are legal: While most of us may consider it distasteful, and indeed foolish, to wear ones pants so low as to expose the underwear, as the Court stated in O’Gorman, “people can dress as they please, wear anything, so long as they do not offend public order and decency.”… Moreover, “the Constitution still leaves some opportunity for people to be foolish if they so desire.” You can’t argue with that. According to Penal Law §240.20(7) , i.e. Disorderly Conduct, a person is guilty when of violating the law when he intentionally “causes public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creates the risk thereof when he creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act serving no legitimate purpose.” But the offensive conduct must be “public in nature and must cause inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to a substantial segment of the public.” Apparently, Judge Franco isn’t annoyed or offended by dudes who wear their pants around their knees, and he cites Wikipedia when delving into the style’s “roots in this country’s prison system where inmates are issued uniforms which are often too big and the wearing of belts is prohibited due to safety concerns.” While acknowledging that other towns and cities across America have taken action to criminalize sagging pants, Judge Franco points out that New York has no such legislation. So it’s up to you, Albany. And indeed, State Senator Eric Adams has been confronting the crisis since April with his “Stop the Sag” campaign. But are PSAs enough? Clearly, we need tough new laws to, ahem, crack down on this fashion trend, and put offenders behind bars where they belong, or at least rehabilitate them on work farms out in Sag Harbor.

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Judge: Wearing Saggy Pants Is Not A Crime

Last Night’s Action: Mets Unlucky in 13th

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:01 +0000

Cardinals 8, Mets 7 (13 innings): When Johan Santana last faced St. Louis’ Jaime Garcia, the game (on April 17) went 20 innings. This time, the teams got lucky — the game only went 13 innings. The Mets, who trailed 6-0 before they came to bat, saw their four-run eighth to tie the game at 7 go for naught when Pedro Feliciano allowed an Albert Pujols RBI single in the top of the 13th. Carlos Beltran had a homer (a solo shot, what a bum), and Angel Pagan had a two-run homer in the eighth. Johan Santana put the Mets in a deep hole by allowing seven runs (including a career-high six in the first inning) and a career-high 13 hits. The Mets have lost 20 of 30. Yankees 8, Indians 0: The Yankees scored in each of the first four innings, including three runs apiece in the second and third, to win for the second time in three nights in Cleveland. Alex Rodriguez didn’t hit his 600th homer, but he did go 2-for-5 and knock in the game’s first run. A.J. Burnett decided to let his good side show up. He pitched 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, striking out seven and walking only one. Every Yankees starter except Derek Jeter had a hit. Phil Hughes takes the mound as the Yankees close out the series on Thursday. The Yankees remain two games up on Tampa Bay, which beat Detroit, and seven up on the Red Sox, who beat the Angels.

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Last Night’s Action: Mets Unlucky in 13th

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

Judge: Paterson Showed "Poor Judgement" But No Criminality

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:51:21 +0000

AP Five months have passed since former chief judge Judith S. Kaye took over the investigation into David Paterson’s role in his aide’s alleged assault against a former girlfriend. Today Kaye released her report [ pdf ], concluding that Paterson did not break any laws when he repeatedly contacted the woman, Sherr-una Booker, after his former top adviser , David Johnson, allegedly choked her, tore off her Halloween costume, and threw her against a mirrored dresser last October. There has been widespread speculation that Booker dropped her court case against Booker as a result of pressure from Paterson and the State Police . (She dropped the case the day after a phone call from Paterson.) After the New York Times published a series of incendiary articles detailing the Paterson administration’s response to the alleged altercation, Paterson reached out to Booker again, and instructed his press secretary to draft a statement for Booker declaring that “though our break-up was not friendly, there was nothing acrimonious about our relationship or its ending.” Booker refused to issue the statement. Paterson also left a voicemail message for Booker after the story broke. Here’s the awkward transcript: Sherri, this is David. You should see the way they wrote this story. They’re trying to make it look like I pressured you into dropping this court case. Please help me. Your lawyer — his statement makes it sound the same way. Um, I mean — I was trying to find out about the rumors involving myself. You placed the call to me around ten minutes to four on Sunday, Feb. 7 — it was the day of the Super Bowl. And, um, in the conversation, we just talked about the things that — that — you didn’t say anything about me, and I didn’t say about you. Then we went on to talk about other stuff, but — I hope, uh — you remember that I was not trying to make you do anything, and — I hope your lawyer will do something to help me here, because this, uh, doesn’t look good for me, and I wasn’t in this. Apparently, Booker had plenty of room on her voicemail, because Paterson went on and on like Jon Favreau in Swingers : And this is exactly what they’re after. And I — I was just not in this and didn’t — um, you know — want to play a role in it. And, to be honest with you, I believe you. So — um, anyway, uh — if you can help to clear this up, because it — that portrayal, that conversation — we didn’t talk for one minute, we talked for 10 or 15 minutes. And, um — I did tell you that I was there for you, and you could call me. But I wasn’t doing it to try to trade it for you dropping the ca — I didn’t even know the court date was Monday, to be honest with you. I’ll talk to you later. Paterson later testified that he reached out to Booker because he had heard that she needed help handling press inquiries. Kaye’s report states that “there were numerous telephone contacts between the Governor and Booker, some that he initiated even after he became aware of the serious nature of her accusations, and even just after he referred this matter to the OAG. Regardless of any good faith reasons on the part of the Governor for contacts that he initiated, these were errors of judgment.” But Kaye found no criminality on behalf of the Governor. So we guess this means he’s cleared to run for Governor again! Watch your back, Cuomo. Kaye’s report does say that there is “evidence reviewed warrants consideration of possible charges” against Johnson relating to the alleged altercation with Booker, who last week decided to continue with her legal action against Johnson.

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Judge: Paterson Showed "Poor Judgement" But No Criminality