Do you know the city has a sheriff? Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t think you do, which is why he is extra exited to announce his appointment of new Sheriff Edgar Domenech. Bloomberg said , “Most people don’t realize that New York City has a sheriff. He does not ride around on a horse, carry a six-shooter and look for cattle rustlers, but as the city’s chief civil law enforcement officer, he really is vitally important to the safety and well-being of New York.” Well, if you wanted more people to be aware of the sheriff, you should probably give him a horse and a six-shooter. In case you don’t know, the city’s sheriff is responsible for things like collecting money or property due from a court judgment, assisting with evictions involving a court order and making different types of civil arrests at the order of the court. Domenech said at a press conference, “The Sheriff’s Office is often the unseen hand in the administration of justice in New York City and I look forward to working with the incredible team in place at the Sheriff’s Office to carry out that mission.” And from his record, Domenech seems willing to uphold the law at any cost. Domenech served as the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives until 2007, when he was demoted for raising questions about some allegedly questionable financial management. He said his whistleblowing “reinforced the importance that I believe management has to have in protecting the taxpayers.” Domenech will be replacing Sheriff Lindsay Eason, who announced his retirement in October. Now you know!

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Bloomberg Appoints City’s New Sheriff

The curtain wall of the hospital’s new patient pavilion boasts a blow of the hospital’s famous WPA murals (via J Schumacher ‘s flickr stream). The first thing Google suggests when you type in Harlem currently is “Harlem Hospital.” So of course locals would be upset at the rumors that the financially troubled hospital would be closing. So let’s be clear everybody: Harlem Hospital is not closing . It is just, like most hospitals these days, going through a tough time. To help squelch the rumors the Hospital held a town hall meeting last weekend and everyone was invited. Seriously, not only were State Sen. Bill Perkins and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer on hand but so was Rep. Charles Rangel (an admitted “Johnny-come-lately” to the concerns). The hospital’s executive director, Dr. John Palmer, reviewed the causes of Harlem Hospital’s troubles for the audience—which include the budget deficits in New York, Medicaid cuts in general and the hospitals disaffiliation with Columbia University (the two had been entwined since 1962)—summing up “as you reduce funds coming in and revenues coming in, you can no longer provide the staffing and services you need. Part of HHC’s plan is to reduce and consolidate services, preserve necessary medical services and create centers of excellence to improve the quality of care provision.” In the end though the core message seems to be “yes, the hospital is going through some pains right now but don’t worry. It isn’t going to be the next St. Vincent’s .

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The Harlem Hospital Is Not Closing, Repeat Not Closing

There was more pandemonium at Rikers last night when a fight broke out while correction officers tried to lock inmates into their cells for the night. CNN reports that fifteen corrections officers were injured (the Wall Street Journal puts the counts 16 ) but none of the injuries were life threatening. It’s unclear what started the fight, but a spokesman for the Corrections Officers’ Benevolent Association says the inmates started it. It’s unclear what injuries the inmates sustained, if any. The C.O. union also pins the blame on the budget cuts: “Correction officers are being violently attacked at the hands of inmates because they know that staffing levels are low, and the Department of Correction continues to cut posts, jeopardizing the safety and security of Correction Officers and inmates alike.”

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Rikers Island Melee Injures at Least 15 Correction Officers

Flickr user Idle Type According to an investigation by Barry L. Kluger, Inspector General of the MTA, a number NYC Transit supervisors forced maintainers to lie on vital signal inspection reports, threatening them with things like loss of overtime. But one signal maintainer argued that meeting the MTA’s exacting standards was just too hard . He told the Post , “Instead of five signals to inspect [in a shift], they would give you 15. There’s no way 15 could be done, but they would say you had to do it. It’s like you think your car is fine after going to the mechanic, but they never looked at it.” The fibbing came after the MTA began to face pressure to meet federal standards that call for railway switches and signals to be inspected monthly. The signals are used to keep appropriate space between trains, and a faulty signal could cause unnecessary delays or even a dangerous crash, like Washington D.C.’s June 2009 commuter-rail crash . High-earning Signal Department supervisor Tracy Bowdwin resigned a few weeks ago according to the Daily News , but the Post reports she was demoted following the scandal. All of the signals have since been reinspected and found safe, and Kluger thanked subway officials jumping on the case. “Because of the seriousness of the issue, rather than wait for the investigation to be completed, we’ve been providing NYC Transit with oversight on an ongoing basis,” he said , adding that officials acted with “prompt and immediate attention to ensure the safety and integrity of the signal system.” Straphangers weren’t to pleased to learn about the corner cutting. One said, “Of course anytime there are questions raised about safety, you have concerns…. You should be able to trust the people doing these jobs.” But this is the MTA we’re talking about—maybe the feds should have sent their own guys to do the job.

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Great: Officials Faked Thousands Of Subway Inspections

Photos via Single Linds Redux and ATZ While the decision to pull the plug on Coney Island’s Bank Building is irreversible, it’s current half-demolished state is now frozen for the time being. Amusing the Zillion reports that they’ve postponed their funeral service for the historic building, which was expected to be nothing but dust in two weeks time, because the Department of Buildings has issued a stop work order. The Building Enforcement Safety Team issued the order due to debris falling onto adjacent buildings. ATZ reports that their “source said a wall coming down is shared with an adjacent property owner who must pay to build a new wall before work can proceed.” The demo permit is good through June 11th of next year, so the Bank Building may remain as-is for a while. Full stop work order can be seen on the DoB’s site .

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Coney Island Bank Building Demo Stopped… For Now

                          It’s Canstruction time again , everybody! 25 teams of architects and engineers and transformed an estimated 100,000 full cans of food into amazing sculptures, on view at the World Financial Center Winter Garden. The design contest/fundraiser challenges participants to come up with the most impressive can sculpture. It’s a competitive field here! We can’t decide which one’s our favorite; we love The Standard Hotel, but it can ‘t hold a can dle to the Super Mario Bros. and Battleship sculptures. We don’t envy the judges this year! And just to be clear, none of this food is going to waste. When the show closes November 22, the pop art will be dismantled and donated to City Harvest for distribution to programs that feed hungry New Yorkers. Last year, 97,211 cans of food – a combined weight of 101,056 pounds – were collected at the World Financial Center. Visitors to the free exhibit are encouraged to support City Harvest by donating cans of high quality food (tuna, beans, vegetables). Details on visiting the exhibit here .

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Photos: Canstruction 2010 On View To Help City Harvest

The Knicks won’t be able to play their game against the Orlando Magic because of some maintenance problems. The team issued a statement : Following last night’s Rangers game, during overnight maintenance of Madison Square Garden, which included cleaning asbestos-related materials in the attic above the ceiling, some debris fell into the Arena. Out of an abundance of caution, and after consulting the NBA, we are postponing tonight’s Knicks v. Magic game. We will be working with the city and independent experts, ATC Associates and GCI Environmental Advisory, to evaluate and determine the most appropriate course of action. As the safety of our customers and employees are our top priority, we will not reopen the Garden until we are absolutely assured the Arena is safe. Ticketholders are advised to retain their tickets, and to go to nyknicks.com for rescheduling information. We will announce information about future events as soon as they have been determined. Newsday points out, “Considering that it is asbestos-related, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Garden won’t be available to the Knicks in time for Friday’s game against the Wizards… It is the seventh time in franchise history that the Knicks have postponed a home game. The most recent was Jan. 7, 1996, when a snowstorm caused the cancellation of a Knicks-Sonics game at the Garden. Never before has a game been cancelled at the Garden because of an arena issue. In 1965, a game against the St. Louis Hawks on Nov. 9, 1965 was postponed due to The Great Blackout.”

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Knicks Cancel Tonight’s Game Because Of… Asbestos

UPS plane at Philadelphia’s airport The Transportation Security Administration is investigating reports of suspicious packages on UPS planes in Newark and Philadelphia. And now the NYPD bomb squad is investigating a UPS truck in downtown Brooklyn! Update : The packages have been cleared, but now officials think this might have been part of a dry run for a bomb-by-mail plot (more info below). The TSA issued a statement saying it was “aware of and monitoring reports of potentially suspicious items onboard cargo flights that landed safely at Newark Liberty and Philadelphia International airports. Out of an abundance of caution the planes were moved to a remote location where they are being met by law enforcement officials and swept.” The Star-Ledger says dozens of fire trucks are at the scene in Newark and the plane has been moved to a secure area. Why the fuss? CNN reports a “manipulated” toner cartridge in a UPS package from Yemen to Chicago was found when the plane was stopped in London. The package tested negative for explosive material. Update : The packages in Brooklyn, Newark and Philadelphia were cleared, but now it seems that officials think this was a dry run for a bomb-by-mail plot . Also, the device in London was a toner cartridge with white powder and wires coming from it (in Newark, the package was… reams of paper.) White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said: Last night, intelligence and law enforcement agencies discovered potential suspicious packages on two planes in transit to the United States. Based on close cooperation among U.S. government agencies and with our foreign allies and partners, authorities were able to identify and examine two suspicious packages, one in London and one in Dubai. Both of these packages originated from Yemen. As a result of security precautions triggered by this threat, the additional measures were taken regarding the flights at Newark Liberty and Philadelphia International Airports. The President was notified of a potential terrorist threat on Thursday night at 10:30, by John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism. The President directed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the Department of Homeland Security, to take steps to ensure the safety and security of the American people, and to determine whether these threats are a part of any additional terrorist plotting. The President has received regular updates from his national security team since he was alerted to the threat.

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"Suspicious" UPS Packages Now Cleared In NYC, NJ, PA

The two Rutgers students charged with multiple counts of invasion of privacy after allegedly watching webcam footage of classmate Tyler Clementi engaged in a sexual encounter with another man have quit the university. An attorney for Molly Wei , whose dorm room was allegedly where Clementi’s roommate Dharun Ravi viewed ( and Tweeted about ) the encounter, says his client dropped out because she fears for her safety. 18,000 people have joined an online group demanding manslaughter charges against the two, and some online commenters have called for them to “return to their countries.” On Wednesday night there was a protest decrying the “rush to judgment” against the two, led by the group Queering the Air. “We are against the crucifixion of two individuals for the sins of the larger society,” said Robert O’Brien , an anthropology instructor and one of the leaders of Queering the Air . “Two students are being scapegoated for the failure of the university and the wider community to provide a safe environment for Rutgers’ diverse community.” Steven Goldstein, the director of Garden State Equality, the state’s largest advocacy gay rights group, wants hate crime charges filed against Wei and Ravi. He dismissed Queering the Air a “radical fringe group,” and tells the Daily Record , “They stand with (Ravi and Wei). We stand with Tyler Clementi.” Ravi’s attorney says, “They were given the option of withdrawing and they can reapply. Realistically, they couldn’t go back no matter what. [Ravi] definitely plans to go somewhere else.” A close friend of Wei’s tells NJ.com , “Stuff like this goes on your record and then the whole world knows about it. She’s not worried. Once the truth comes out everything will be cleared up.”

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Rutgers Students Charged In Clementi Suicide Quit School

Yesterday morning just after 10 a.m. we received word over the newswire that a double homicide had taken place in the Ridgewood section of Queens. The alert noted the incident occurred at Willoughby and Woodward Avenue (next to the Linden Hill Cemetery), where one male and one female were found shot inside of a car. More details have been released since, and today the NY Post reports that the male was 47-year-old Lenny Archipolo, who has 8 prior arrests (for rape, robbery and drugs—though 5 are sealed). He was found with his girlfriend—23-year-old Yomarya Santiago—shot execution style inside of a parked but still-running car, with “her hair flowing out the open window.” While the Post says there is no surveillance footage, the Daily News reports that footage shows someone parking the car at 7:45 a.m., and a man stepping out of the backseat. Witnesses also say they saw the couple with a man in a McDonald’s having breakfast prior to this. The local who discovered them, 73-year-old Stephen Chee, says, “[They were] motionless. The man’s head was turned on one side kind of limp, ashy color, off color. The hair covered the women’s face, [she was] slumped to the left side. I’m shocked at the way they died.” Another woman commented on the quaint neighborhood, saying, “I’ve been living here since 1978 and this is the first time I’ve seen something like this.” A family friend of Archipolo’s says his girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend was getting out of prison soon, and had been making threats to the couple. And the Daily Mail thinks the scene is so close to the one in Goodfellas —when Johnny Roast Beef and his girlfriend are discovered shot in their Cadillac—that they’ve even included a photo of it in their story!

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Couple Shot Execution Style In Ridgewood, Queens