"Storm system that battered NYC spawned 2 tornadoes and macroburst, weather agency says" by Associated Press | September 18, 2010
NEW YORK — The storm that churned through New York City spawned two destructive tornadoes and a fierce macroburst with wind speeds up to 125 miles per hour that barreled across a large swath of Brooklyn and Queens, authorities said yesterday.
The storm on Thursday evening toppled trees, peeled away roofs, and killed a woman in a car who had just swapped seats with her husband....
The storm was part of a line that rippled across much of the Northeast before completing its run in New York City....
It was that second twister that snapped trees and scattered them like bowling pins, downing power lines and crushing vehicles, including a car in Queens where Iline Levakis was killed, according to the National Weather Service. She was in the parked car with her husband, Billy Levakis. The Pennsylvania couple had just switched seats in the car, said a former business partner.
But it was the macroburst that packed the biggest punch with its winds up to 125 miles per hour, said Brian Ciemnecki, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Stretching 8 miles long and 5 miles wide, the macroburst started in the Middle Village section of Queens and ended in Forest Hills. A macroburst is an intense gust of wind that pours down from a storm....
Stunned residents sifted through the debris yesterday, and utility crews worked to restore power in blacked-out neighborhoods....
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At least they will blow a lot cleaner in the future:
"NYC may ban smoking in parks, on beaches" by Associated Press | September 16, 2010
NEW YORK — New York City is pursuing a tough new policy that would shoo smokers out of public parks, beaches, and even the heart of Times Square — one of the most ambitious outdoor antitobacco efforts in the nation....
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NEW YORK — Members of a church that lost its bishop and five other members in a van wreck gathered yesterday for a service that had abruptly become a gathering of grief.
About 100 congregants mourned the dead and prayed for survivors at Joy Fellowship Christian Assemblies, a small church in the Bronx.
State Police said a blown-out tire apparently caused the van to overturn Saturday on the New York State Thruway in Woodbury, about 55 miles north of New York City. The members were going to a church event upstate.
Some members of the congregation wiped away tears at an hourslong service. But many of the roughly 100 who gathered in the storefront church raised their voices in song, their arms in praise, and their hope in prayer....
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