City Plans To Narrow Fourth Avenue As Golden, PBA Lobby Against Gentile-Backed Speed Camera Program

By on March 26, 2013  Featured story, Traffic & Transit
Mar 262013
 
A flier from the Fourth Ave safety workshop. (Image source: NYCDOT).

A flier from the Fourth Ave safety workshop. (Image source: NYCDOT).

As the NYC Department of Transportation unveils a series of traffic-calming measures for Fourth Avenue to mixed reactions, State Senator Marty Golden (R) and the police union are lobbying Albany lawmakers to nix a speed camera demonstration program previously approved by the New York State Assembly and supported by City Councilman Vincent Gentile (D).

At a March 21, meeting where city planners showcased the proposals, Bay Ridgites on both sides of the issue voiced strong opinions about the possible changes – which include narrowing a 13-block stretch of the busy thoroughfare from Ovington Avenue to 84th Street, as reported by Will Bredderman for Brooklyn Paper. Continue reading »

After Teen Arrested For Vandalism, Grimm Wags Finger At Media While They Wag Right Back

By on September 26, 2012  Politics
Sep 262012
 

Image source: Grimm campaign via Politicker.

After the Associated Press broke the news yesterday that a teen had confessed to smashing the windows at U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm’s Staten Island campaign office with a classmate, after it had already been revealed that the crime was being treated as an act of criminal mischief and not a burglary, the Congressman responded by releasing a statement saying he was “very relieved” that the attack wasn’t politically motivated, as reported by Politicker’s Hunter Walker and Colin Campbell.

“It is unfortunate that these young kids would commit such an act of vandalism, yet we are very relieved to know this is not politically motivated. At the time, when we saw three large window panes broken, following a consistent pattern of lawn sign thefts and after several locations with Grimm signs and posters were barraged with eggs, it was not hard to come to any other conclusion,” Mr. Grimm said. “In addition to that, the gentleman in charge of operating the main computer system, found the computer not functioning and a new operating system installed. Again, under the circumstances, it could very easily lead one to believe that this was all connected, which is why we contacted the NYPD.”

However, it didn’t take long for Grimm to lash out at the press for having the gall to report on things that actually happened, calling it “shameless spin.” Unfortunately for him, the media was more than happy to respond by going to the Michael Grimm blooper reel. Continue reading »

[UPDATED] Grimm S.I. Campaign Headquarters Vandalized

By on September 24, 2012  Politics
Sep 242012
 

Image source: Grimm campaign via Politicker.

The Staten Island campaign headquarters of Rep. Michael Grimm was allegedly vandalized and burglarized sometime on Saturday night, as reported by Politicker’s Hunter Walker. Continue reading »

Ed Koch Endorses Mark Murphy for Congress, Cites Danger to Middle Class Safety Net

By on September 24, 2012  Featured story, Politics
Sep 242012
 

Celebrated former mayor, kingmaker, and grumpy old man Ed Koch tossed his two cents into the District 11 Congressional race late last week, and no – it wasn’t to Eastwood a chair.

While Koch backed Republican Bob Turner in last year’s special election to replace Anthony Weiner in District 9, this time he’s throwing in his lot with fellow Democrat Mark Murphy.

The reason he’s backing Murphy over incumbent Michael Grimm?

Hizzoner says the policies of Grimm, along with Congressional colleague and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, are “hostile” to long-standing social programs that benefit the middle class. Continue reading »

Immigration Charge For Grimm Fundraiser Exposes Skinnydipping House Colleague

By on August 20, 2012  Politics
Aug 202012
 

Image source: www.guigo.eu via Flickr.

After the NY Times went after Rep. Michael Grimm with some rather facile “guilt by association” charges the other week, even we were surprised to learn that the press may now be accusing Grimm of nudity by association.

After it came out last week that Ofer Bilton, one of Congressman Grimm’s top fundraisers – who had previously been named in an FBI campaign finance probe, was being charged with immigration fraud for lying on visa applications for foreign investors, an FBI report also brought to light details concerning a drunken late night swim in the sea of Galilee by a group of freshman Republican reps.

Here’s where it gets real.

At least one of the group, Rep. Kevin Yoder of Kansas, has admitted to swimming in the nude, according to the Daily News’ Bill Hutchinson. Continue reading »

HOV Lane, New Upper Deck Coming To Verrazano Bridge

By on June 28, 2012  Traffic & Transit
Jun 282012
 

Image source: MTAPhotos via Flickr

Soon you’ll be able to count seven lanes on the upper deck of the Verrazano.

As the MTA plans to install a new upper deck on the nearly 50-year-old Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, a new HOV lane is slated to premiere as part of the improvements, writes Denise Romano in a very informative piece for the Home Reporter.

Word of the new traffic artery came to light during an MTA Capital Construction Committee hearing on June 25. Continue reading »

Bloomberg’s Last Tango: City’s annual “Budget Dance” ends on a good note for Bay Ridge

By on June 27, 2012  Featured story, Politics
Jun 272012
 

Image source: digitizedchaos via Flickr.

What has been referred to by a skeptical New York media as the annual “budget dance,”  a choreographed clash which begins every year with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s threats of austerity – cutting jobs, closing firehouses, the discontinuation of after-school programs, followed by posturing from city council members and program directors, with all roads leading to an inevitable happy ending – ended this week.

As Mayor Bloomberg’s last year in office passes its halfway point, many – in both the press and in politics – are weighing the pros and cons of this yearly ritual. Continue reading »

Gounardes Comes Out In Favor Of More Bike Lanes For Bay Ridge

By on June 15, 2012  Featured story, Politics
Jun 152012
 

A controversial bike lane on Prospect Park West in Park Slope (Image source: Kai Brinker via Flickr).

State Senate hopeful Andrew Gounardes has come out in favor of  creating more bike lanes, as well as expanding Bay Ridge’s existing bike lane “network” to neighborhoods further north – such as Park Slope and Cobble Hill, writes Will Bredderman for Brooklyn Daily. Continue reading »

Poly Prep Grad David Zarnock Gives Graphic Details Of Alleged Sex Abuse

By on June 11, 2012  News
Jun 112012
 

David Zarnock, a former NYPD detective and Poly Prep Country Day School graduate who has had run ins with the law, has shared a graphically detailed account of the sexual abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of the school’s former football coach Phil Foglietta with reporter Michael O’Keeffe – who has been covering the story for the Daily News.

Former students, including David Hiltbrand – an entertainment reporter in Philadelphia who attended Poly Prep in the late 1960s, and Jonathan Enroth – who was enrolled at the school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, came forward to the New York Times in 2005 with detail-laden stories of abuse at the hands of the now-deceased Foglietta.

In the most recent account by Zarnock, the sexual assaults began in 1982 – when he was in 8th grade. Continue reading »

Judge Says Evidence Suggests Poly Officials Knew Of Sex Abuse Allegations Before 1991

By on June 7, 2012  News
Jun 072012
 

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Yesterday a Brooklyn federal judge ruled that there is enough evidence to suggest that officials at Poly Prep Country Day School [9216 7th Ave] were aware of sex abuse allegations against former football coach Phil Foglietta before 1991 – the year they claim to have first learned about them, reports Michael O’Keeffe for the Daily News.

The hearing, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollack, added new credibility to a law suit by former students that alleges school administrators have covered up sexual abuse since the 1960s.

“There have been serious questions raised as to whether defendants and their counsel were simply engaged in a good faith effort to vigorously defend this lawsuit or whether certain [aspects] of the alleged conduct was in furtherance of an effort to conceal the extent of the school’s knowledge and to hinder plaintiffs’ efforts in pursuing their case,” Pollak wrote in an order made public on Wednesday. Continue reading »

1 2