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Statue Of Liberty Evacuated Due To Smoke Condition

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:27:37 +0000

The Statue of Liberty has been evacuated because of a smoke condition. A FDNY spokesman told Reuters , “We have a smoke condition around the elevator and the statue’s been evacuated and we are on scene.” No one appears to be injured. The statue’s crown only reopened last year —it is rather stunning —after being closed for many years. It was closed partly due to post-9/11 terrorism concerns, but one official also said the narrow staircase “violates every fire code in the city of New York and the state of New York and the state of New Jersey.”

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Statue Of Liberty Evacuated Due To Smoke Condition

Now UK Prevents Iroquois Lacrosse Team From Traveling

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:50:53 +0000

Percy Abrams, executive director for the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse team, and his passport (Bebeto Matthews/AP) Just after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cleared Iroquois tribe members to travel outside of the U.S. with their tribe-issued passports for an international lacrosse competition, the Iroquois Nationals faced another set back as the United Kingdom announced it still wouldn’t accept their passports. Team manager Ashley Jemison told NY1 , “It was a little bit of a shock when we thought that we did have an arrangement, an agreement with them, that things were going to be okay once we got the part that we needed to take care of. But you know, we’re still staying positive.” The team was supposed to leave for the World Lacrosse Championships on Sunday, but the British authorities said it wouldn’t issue visas since the U.S. wouldn’t allow the tribe members back into the country with their Haudenosaunee passports. The team also declined the State Department’s offer to expedite U.S. passports for them because it would be an insult to their culture. With Clinton’s intervention, the team thought the State Department’s one-time waiver to travel to the U.K. and back would solve their problems, but now they are stuck trying to figure out another way to the competition. One complicating factor is that nine of the team members are Canadian and would need Canadian waivers. The team will miss its match against England (also the tournament’s opener). The Daily News reports that “organizers have expressed a willingness to reschedule games if the team can figure out a way to get across the Atlantic.” Additionally, “The delays have cost the team $25,000 a day in hotels, meals and airline change fees. Director James Cameron donated $50,000 to ease the pain.”

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Now UK Prevents Iroquois Lacrosse Team From Traveling

Hillary Clinton Says Iroquois Can Travel With Tribe Passports

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:47:52 +0000

After a passport dispute that left the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team stranded in New York City for three days, the team will be able to travel with their own passports, thanks to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At her request, the State Department dropped a demand that the Iroquois athletes must use formal U.S. passports to enter and exit the country, rather than their Haudenosaunee confederacy-issued passports. However, the allowance is a “one-time-only waiver.” Tribe leaders say they’ve never had any problems entering and exiting the country with their passports, they were denied British visas because the U.S. said they would not be allowed to return without U.S. issued passports. The State Department says they no longer recognize Iroquois Confederacy travel documents, though that seemed to be news to the Iroquois. But State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, “There was flexibility there to grant this kind of one-time waiver given the unique circumstances of this particular trip.” Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York said, “I am relieved that this bureaucratic technicality has been papered over and these young men can go and do what they have trained to do: play lacrosse and compete on the international scene.” That is, if they can make it on time. The team is due to play in the Lacrosse World Championship tomorrow evening in Manchester, England, though they have yet to be granted British visas.

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Hillary Clinton Says Iroquois Can Travel With Tribe Passports

Sen. Diaz: Espada’s Being Targeted Because He’s Hispanic

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:40:29 +0000

With criminal charges about to drop on State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., the head of the state Democratic party wants to oust him from the party! Won’t anyone stand up for the man accused of siphoning $14 million from a taxpayer-funded non-profit, among other things? Fear not, Pedro; here’s Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. to the rescue! In a press release, Diaz called the push to oust Espada an example of “selective prosecution of Hispanics.” After all, isn’t it interesting that out of all the Albany lawmakers are under investigation, the only one being pushed out is Hispanic? It’s just like that time the Senate expelled Hiram Monserrate —which had everything to do with his race and nothing to do with that time he cut up his girlfriend’s face and dragged her through an apartment lobby.

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Sen. Diaz: Espada’s Being Targeted Because He’s Hispanic

Criminal Charges Against Sen. Pedro Espada Expected Soon

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:49:37 +0000

In April, Attorney General Cuomo filed a civil suit against Bronxchester Senator Pedro Espada Jr. , accusing him of siphoning $14 million from his non-profit health clinic (which receives millions in taxpayer money) for himself and his family. The lawsuit was filed one day before a team of agents from the FBI, IRS and Cuomo’s office raided his Soundview Healthcare Network—investigators were reportedly looking for evidence to support charges of money laundering, mail fraud and tax fraud. And it looks like they found plenty to go on, because the Post reports they’re poised to hit Espada with serious criminal charges that could potentially put him behind bars for a decade. According to the tabloid, the charges could include “lying on a state contract form by claiming Soundview’s taxes were paid when it had actually failed to pay more than $750,000 to the state and federal governments, answering ‘no’ on a federal grant application to a question about outstanding federal debt when it owed at least $700,000 in federal payroll taxes, and falsely claiming to the IRS that Espada’s 2007 salary was zero when it really topped $450,000.” The Post’s Fred Dicker also reports that with the criminal charges looming, the state Democratic party is considering giving Espada the boot. Charlie King, the state party’s executive director and a top political aide to Cuomo, is sending out a letter from his office tomorrow urging Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the Bronx Democratic chairman, to begin proceedings to oust Espada. “This is a move by the state party to get rid of Espada for good,” a source close to Democratic leaders tells Dicker. Here’s an excerpt of the letter: Through his repeated public statements and bad conduct, Sen. Espada has shown he is not ‘in sympathy’ with our party’s fundamental principles… This letter constitutes a formal request that the Bronx Democratic Party immediately initiate proceeding to cancel Sen. Pedro Espada Jr.’s enrollment as a Democrat. For more than a decade, Sen. Espada has cavalierly flouted campaign finance rules… Sen. Espada’s Democratic affiliation is based solely on a desire for personal gain. Room Eight thinks Dicker’s article is a little “stupid” and points out that the Democratic Party tried to oust Espada in 2002, “only to have the Courts rule that anything Espada did on the Senate floor was protected under the State Constitution, and thus could not be used in a disenrollment proceeding.” Espada faces election challenges from community leader Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter and Gustavo Rivera, who worked for US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Room Eight speculates that the move to kick out Espada “before a primary would certainly shift the dynamics of the race for his seat. With the moral underpinning knocked out from under her candidacy, would people start to notice Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter’s ethnicity, making Gustavo Rivera the new frontrunner?” Espada has not yet commented on this latest round of witch hunting .

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Criminal Charges Against Sen. Pedro Espada Expected Soon

Heads Up: Fireworks Festivities Include Flyovers

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:08:40 +0000

According to NotifyNYC, “Flyovers 7/4 between 6PM-8:30 PM associated with fireworks: an American flag display, military fighter jets, and NYPD helicopters.” Also from NotifyNYC, “ConEd responding to a power outage in the Bay Terrace and Ft. Totten sections of QN. Call 1-800-752-6633 to report loss of power” and “NY State DEC has issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for NYC until 10 PM tonight. Visit http://bit.ly/cPgtFx for more info.”

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Heads Up: Fireworks Festivities Include Flyovers

So Hitler Walks Into a World Cup Bar…

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:20:25 +0000

Argentina fans packed into a Hell’s Kitchen bar to watch the Germany-Argentina game yesterday were furious to find one fan dressed as what the Post calls “their opponent’s biggest fan”: Adolf Hitler. Fan Steve Staso allegedly walked into Café Andalucia with a taped-on mustache and a swastika armband, saluting fellow Germany supporters. One bar-goer said, “I said, ‘Why are you doing this?’ and he said it was funny. I said, ‘Is genocide funny? Is history funny?’” History can be funny sometimes, but genocide is not. Others recall Staso yelling “Deutschland!” and “Heil Hitler!” while giving the Nazi salute, and when asked by law professor Steven Spielvogel to remove his costume, he reportedly replied, “It’s America. I can do what I want.” Staso later defended his costume to the tabloid, saying, ” You don’t tell people in Hell’s Kitchen what to do. The point is to have fun. You can’t have fun anymore .” Cafe Andalucia’s owner said the costume was “stupid,” but didn’t want to discriminate against him for wearing what he wanted. Staso apparently has a history of dressing up in controversial costumes. One Cafe Andalucia regular said, “Last week he was Mexican. This week, he’s a Nazi. Who he is next week depends on who is in the final.” Somehow, we don’t think a Francisco Franco would be as upsetting.

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So Hitler Walks Into a World Cup Bar…

Heartbroken Family Mourns Man Killed While Boating

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:27:27 +0000

Jijo Puthuvamkunnath, with fiancee Sissy Chacko Bereft over his son’s death in a killed on Friday night boating incident , Varqhese Puthuvamkunnath held his son’s wedding invitation and told the Daily News , “Give this to the man who killed my son!” Jijo Puthuvamkunnath, a 30-year-old physical therapist who worked with children in schools and hospitals, was on a 17′ boat in the New York Bay with two friends when a 30′ boat, the Reel Impulsive, T-boned their vessel. The Reel Impulsive, piloted by Richard Aquilone, “had just tried to maneuver across the wake of a speeding tourist boat, The Shark,” according to the Bergen Record . Puthuvamkunnath suffered severe head and brain injuries and was pronounced dead at a hospital (his friends suffered minor injuries. Aquilone, who was on his boat with his wife and three children, was charged with vehicular manslaughter, operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol or drugs and endangering the welfare of a child. According to the News, “Aquilone refused to give blood but blew a .06 on the Breathalyzer after the crash – a reading that is below the legal limit. Authorities said that’s why he wasn’t hit with the tougher charge of boating while intoxicated.” Puthuvamkunnath’s cousin wondered, “How could this man drink and take people’s lives into his hands? It’s so careless.” Another cousin remembered how Puthuvamkunnath proposed to his fiancee Sissy Chacko—they were going to be married next month—by having a movie marquee changed to say, “Will You Marry Me Sissy?”, adding, “He was looking forward to his future with her. I’d never seen him so happy.” Aguilone’s lawyer said the incident was an accident. Aguilone, who is pleading not guilty , said, “I apologize for this, really.”

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Heartbroken Family Mourns Man Killed While Boating

State May Reinstate Tax On Items Under $110

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:11:42 +0000

Because Albany is facing a $9.2 billion budget deficit (and is over 80 days on a budget), state leaders are now circling around reinstating the 4% sales tax for retail items under $110 . The Times Union reports that two “state officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal would indeed increase sales taxes on clothing, but that there would be tax-free periods such as the time before school starts in the fall and around the December holidays. Clothing and footwear that costs less than $110 became exempt from the state’s 4 percent sales tax in 2007, although most counties and some cities tax the sales.” Crain’s has more details . Basically, the tax exemption would be gone “for about six months, starting in the fall… Then, on April 1, 2011, the exemption would return for a year, but only for clothing items costing up to $55. The full $110 exemption would be brought back in April 2012, according to the source…. The exemption, which also covers footwear, spares shoppers from the state’s 4% sales tax and from the 0.375% tax on purchases in the 12-county region served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It has been in effect since April 1, 2006. New York City’s sales tax of 4.5% has been waived on clothing and footwear purchases under $110 since Sept. 1, 2005.” Here are the tax rates around the state ; the NYC sales tax went up last year .

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State May Reinstate Tax On Items Under $110

Albany Budget Battle Pits Paterson Against Ravitch

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:47:16 +0000

Photograph of Governor Paterson and Lieutenant Governor Ravitch at the January budget presentation from the Governor’s Office Albany lawmakers disagreeing is nothing new, but Governor Paterson’s opposition to his own lieutenant governor’s budget plan— one that includes borrowing to balance the budget—is interesting, given how Paterson fought to have LG Richard Ravitch as his number two. The NY Times reports that Paterson’s stance, “announced at a public meeting of state leaders in the Capitol, underscored the growing tension between Mr. Ravitch and the rest of the Paterson administration, who are fundamentally divided over how to close the state’s $9.2 billion deficit.” This morning, Paterson explained , “My budget plan was released Jan. 19th and his savings plan was released in the end of February. So at the time he wrote it, he knew that I had made it clear that I didn’t want to borrow.” He added, “He was quoted as saying that the legislature can’t cut all of that in this budget plan. We’re going to find out in the next 10 days that the Legislature can cut without borrowing.” Keep in mind, the budget was due on April 1; Paterson wants lawmakers to agree (to something) by June 28 . Ravitch, who has been credited with helping fix things in financial trouble ( the MTA, NYC, etc. ), told the Times he cares about making sure the state’s fiscal health is in good standing, “My recommendations are absolutely as important in my mind as they were when I made the recommendations four months ago. I’m not the budget director; I’m not the counsel. I’m fully aware of that, and I’m not complaining about it. All I can do is offer advice… Would I like to see them do what I suggested or some equivalent things? Yes, of course. I have 12 grandchildren here, who live in this state and in this city. ”

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Albany Budget Battle Pits Paterson Against Ravitch