"The Plaza hotel cannot boot a bicycle-sharing station out of a space across the street from its entrance, a judge ruled Tuesday, rejecting the luxury landmark’s claim that the electric-blue bikes are a traffic-clogging eyesore."
See for yourself:
The bicycle-sharing operation at London’s Waterloo stop drew
additional customers during Tuesday’s strike by subway workers
protesting plans to close ticket offices (AP).
It does hurt to look at it, but it is better than the smell of horse sh....
"The details of the case, obtained by the Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request, come as Mayor Bill de Blasio and animal-rights activists are pushing to ban the city’s carriage industry as inhumane to the horses. Drivers have responded by saying they care for the horses like their own children."
"Couple’s death on tracks ruled murder-suicide" AP May 01, 2014
ONEIDA, N.Y. — The death of a New York couple who stood together in front of a freight train was ruled a murder-suicide Wednesday, but investigators cannot say why or when Earl Myatt Jr. decided to drive his beloved wife of 42 years to the railroad crossing.
Relatives have said Myatt became despondent after his wife, Mary, suffered an aneurism that left her with the mental capacity of a toddler.
Troopers said Earl Myatt called one of his sons and apologized two minutes before stepping with his wife onto tracks in the path of an oncoming freight train on Sunday. Police said a railroad video showed them waiting on the tracks before they were hit and killed. A suicide note was found in Myatt’s car.
‘‘We’re devastated,’’ Brad Myatt, one of their sons, told the Utica Observer-Dispatch. ‘‘But I want everyone to know that my father was a good man.’’
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"Police: NY bridge-jumpers were homicide suspects" AP May 01, 2014
SUFFERN, N.Y. — A woman and her boyfriend moved in with her uncle, stole from his bank accounts, and then suffocated him before jumping to their deaths off the George Washington Bridge, police said Wednesday.
Suffern Police Chief Clarke Osborn said investigators are confident they have pieced together the strange story but acknowledged that with all three principals dead, ‘‘We may never be able to answer some of the questions.’’
The killing of William Valenti, 70, of Suffern, was discovered Monday by a nephew, Osborn said. The killers, identified as Nickie Hunt, 40, and Gary Crockett, 41, had tried to delay the discovery of the body by posting a note on the back door that said Valenti had been taken to a hospital, the chief said. But Valenti was in his bedroom, dead from asphyxiation.
Detective Craig Long said Hunt also left a few notes, including one addressed to ‘‘the four most amazing kids this world has ever seen or ever will.’’ He said that note did not mention the killing or admit guilt but apologized in general for the children’s upbringing and Hunt’s estrangement from their father. The children did not live with Hunt.
‘‘The tenor of the note indicates that she is going down a dark road’’ but does not specifically mention suicide, Long said. Crockett left no note, he said.
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"New York mayor to unveil affordable housing plan today" Associated Press May 05, 2014
NEW YORK — With housing costs rising out of reach for many in the nation’s biggest city, Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce plans Monday to build or preserve 200,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years....
De Blasio often emphasized his affordable housing goal during his campaign, and four months into his mayoralty, residents are looking to the Democrat to deliver.
A New York Times/NY1/Siena College Poll released April 7 found 52 percent of New Yorkers disapproved of how he was addressing affordable housing availability, while 35 percent approved....
With shovel in hand, de Blasio appeared that same day at a groundbreaking for a privately built, nearly 800-apartment Brooklyn affordable housing development that ‘‘exemplifies so much of what we believe in,’’ he said.
Yeah, the photo-op will fix the $y$temic problems.
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"#myNYPD’s epic fail" May 06, 2014
The instantaneous nature of Twitter ensures it will have a growing role in public safety. Boston police were early adopters, and used the social media platform particularly well in the immediate aftermath of the Marathon bombings. But when does a good thing become too much? When public officials try to tame what is an inherently uncontrollable communication form and shape it to their own ends.
That’s what happened in New York recently when police tried to use Twitter to boost their image. It almost never ends well when organizations use social media as part of a top-down PR effort — just Google “JP Morgan Twitter fail.” A hashtag can turn into a bashtag alarmingly fast, which is what happened to the #myNYPD campaign. It all began good-naturedly, of course: NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton decided to boost the department’s social media use in order to publicize positive cop stories. A detective came up with the idea of asking New Yorkers to post their photos posing with police officers in the city using #myNYPD. In no time, the campaign got out of control, as New Yorkers posted pictures allegedly showing cops arresting protesters, beating suspects, pepper-spraying people, and engaged in other unflattering conduct.
Both the beauty and curse of Twitter conversation threads is their unpredictable nature. That’s not to say that law enforcement should stay away from social media. The New York Times pointed to a recent study that showed how Twitter could lead to crime prevention through the prediction of crime patterns. The Boston Police Department (@BostonPolice) is often cited as an example in any discussion of best social media practices by law enforcement and has the largest number of Twitter followers (almost 300,000) among police departments in the country.
That’s because the BPD understands that when it comes to using social media for public safety it’s best to follow detective Joe Friday’s dictum: “Just the facts, ma’am.”
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Glad to see the Globe is on the beat.
They say they are no longer spying on the Muslims, but no one really believes it -- especially after seeing this:
"Former NYC officer accused in graffiti case" Associated Press May 05, 2014
NEW YORK — A former New York City police officer was arrested before dawn Sunday on charges he spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti on cars and buildings in a mostly Jewish Brooklyn neighborhood — including the front doors of an elementary school.
Michael Setiawan was picked up after police received a 911 call Saturday evening about the swastikas and other anti-Semitic vandalism in Borough Park.
Hitler's appropriation of that Hindu symbol means it is now anti-Semitic.
Setiawan was a city officer until 2007, serving in Brooklyn’s 69th precinct in the Canarsie neighborhood, police said. The spray-painted words were found on 15 vehicles and four buildings near the Bnos Zion synagogue and school run by the ultra-Orthodox Bobov community.
Setiawan and his parents share a home in Queens. His father said that he was awakened at 5 a.m. Sunday by a call from police. He then went to his son’s room and roused him.
A detective showed up to arrest Setiawan, said his father, Thomas Setiawan. ‘‘I asked my son, ‘What’s wrong? What happened? Is anybody hurt?’ ’’ the Indonesian immigrant said in a telephone interview. ‘‘He said ‘No, don’t worry, nobody’s hurt.’ ”
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Speaking of terror:
"Six years after slashing a psychotherapist he did not know to death with a meat cleaver, David Tarloff stood before a judge and pleaded for mercy Friday, saying he was tormented for decades by what felt was a running battle in his head between God and Satan."
Related: Meat Cleaver Health Care in Manhattan
Thank God I'm done posting for the day.
