Battery Park City Esplanade (Credit: saitowitz/Flickr)
Finding a place to smoke is becoming a real drag. After banning smoking in bars and restaurants, Mayor Bloomberg has announced plans to introduce legislation making it illegal to smoke in public areas.
The legislation will be introduced in City Council today, and if approved will go into effect in approximately 3 months after being signed into law.
Violators of this proposed law will be fined $50 by either a Police or Parks Department official.
The pedestrian plaza at Times Square, Central Park and other major public  parks and areas, conceivably even the Battery Park City esplanade could be part of the smoking ban.
Public school teachers just don’t make enough money.
A former Stuyvesant High School music teacher has been arrested after being caught selling weapons to what he thought was a terrorist network.
Theophilus Burroughs was arrested after a year long sting by the Bronx District Attornye’s office investigating a Bronx warehouse suspected to be a point where assault weapons were being sold.
Burroughs was caught negotiating firearms sales which included AK-47’s, .40-caliber guns and often praised terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
According to the New York Post, Burroughs, “showed up at the Westchester Square warehouse expecting to collect a cool $10,000 for a pair of night-vision goggles, two bulletproof vests and 200,000 counterfeit cigarette stamps.”
Burroughs was on unpaid medical leave and had been a former Marine from Newark. Apparently surprised by the arrest, he web his pants as he was being taken away by investigators.
The charges against Burroughs include weapons possession and forgery.
Burroughs had been teaching at Stuyvesant since 1992, starting as a substitute teacher and then as a music teacher from 2002-2003. Also according to the same article, Burroughs has been under investigation by the Board of Education in an alleged misconduct situation at the Cobble Hill School for American Studies.
Not one to sit idly on the political sidelines, Michael Moore has called for the building of a mosque not near Ground Zero, but on Ground Zero.
“Why?” Moore asks on his official website, “Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from you.”
After publishing the letter over the weekend, on the 9th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Michael Moore has reported that he has collected $50,000 dollars towards the cause. The proceeds of which will go to Park51’s fundraising efforts which started last week.
The entire cost to build the Islamic community center at Park Place is approximately $100 million dollars.
Moore announced the fundraising success on his Twitter page
Amidst this win for the Cordoba Initiative, Park51’s Imam has been “exploring all options” in regards to the controversial mosque and community center. One of the options on the table includes an indefinite postponement of development.
According to an article published in The New York Times the Imam is quoted as saying, “We really are focused on solving it, and solving it in a way that will create the best possible outcome for all. I give you my pledge.â€
101 Warren Street apartments up for U.S. Marshall Auction
Some say, one man’s forfeiture may be another man’s fortune — or something like that.
On a completely unrelated search for Anne Hathaway’s jewels on auction, we inadvertently found plots of real estate in our area on the auction block as well.
Not one, but two condo apartments at 101 Warren Street are part of the U.S. Marshall’s auction of properties. The stated reason for both is “Forfeiture.” We can’t help but imagine that perhaps this might be related to our resident sexy Russian spy neighbor Anna Chapman. Or it could just be two separate instances of bad people buying great real estate and getting caught on the wrong side of the law.
The first listing is for Unit 1540 ID#: USM288946
A 2-bedroom, 2.5 bathroom apartment listed at $2.7 million dollars boasting 1,592 square feet.
The other listing is another 2-bedroom apartment with 3 bathrooms listed at $3.3 million dollars with nearly 2,114 square feet.
Being that the apartment building is relatively new, and there is only one unit left on the building’s official website, this could be a great steal it would be a crime to leave these apartments on the market.
To learn more about how you can bid on these apartments, check out the links below:
This would normally be seen as a good thing, except according to WNBC.com, it’s not. Especially not in Battery Park City.
As election volunteers have grown accustomed to the traditional ballot machines that have been in use for decades, learning how to run the electronic ballot has not gone smoothly. Paired with the fact that the volunteer base pay, which has been tax exempt for decades, will now be subjected to income tax.
This revelation has apparently called for 10 Battery Park City volunteers to “strike” or not show up to our polling sites today.
Some of the candidates on the ballot for tomorrows primary
Tomorrow is primary day citiwide, where several candidate seats are up for grabs.
For our district, candidates will find out who makes the ticket for the Governor, Senate and Attorney General seats in November’s general elections.
The candidates for these positions are:
Democratic Primary Ticket Attorney General – Citywide
Richard L Brodsky
Sean Coffey
Eric R Dinallo
Kathleen M Rice
Eric T Schneiderman United States Senator – 2 Year Unexpired Term – Citywide
Kirsten E Gillibrand
Gail Goode
Repulican Primary Ticket Governor – Citywide
Rick A Lazio
Carl P Paladino Lieutenant Governor – Citywide
Gregory J Edwards
Thomas V Ognibene United States Senator – 6 Year Full Term – Citywide
Gary Berntsen
Jay Townsend United States Senator – 2 Year Unexpired Term – Citywide
Bruce Blakeman
Joseph J DioGuardi
David Malpass
Independent Primary Ticket Governor- Citywide
Rick A Lazio
Ralph C Lorigo Attorney General – Citywide
Richard L Brodsky
Sean Coffey
Eric R Dinallo
Kathleen M Rice
Eric T Schneiderman United States Senator – 2 Year Unexpired Term – Citywide
Kirsten E Gillibrand
Gail Goode
Another new addition at the polls are the voting machines themselves.
Don’t expect to pull the levers of your voting’s past as new electronic voting machines are being rolled out for tomorrow’s primary.
Introducing new voting booths have been notoriously rocky nationwide, but New York is the last state in the nation to implement the new machines as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) responding to Florida’s presidential voting debacle.
Polls open at 6am to find out your exact polling location (as our neighborhood as several) Visit the official NYC Board of Elections site.
Donald Trump places a bid to purchase the Park51 site.
It seems we havent heard the last from Donald Trump in regards to his bid to buy the Park51 site.
Although the purported majority stakeholder, Hisham Elzanaty rebuffed Trump’s bid to buy out his stake last week — Trump made a nationwide concession on the Today Show that his deal is still on the table.
Trump offered the bid but also made a backhanded insult to our area, stipulating that his bid was not because he “the location was a spectacular one (because it is not).”
While touting a new season of “The Apprentice,” Trump explained the motivation behind his bid. “I’ve seen the turmoil downtown and it’s going to get worse. This is a small time developer who is really into it for the money.”
In response to Trump’s offer, Elzanaty’s lawyer called the bid, “just a cheap attempt to get publicity and get in the limelight.”
“There won’t be a mosque.” Trump went on to elaborate, “This is a small time developer who is really into it for the money. He hasn’t said yes — but in my opinion, he’s going to sell.”
Trump then went on to admit, “But what do I know about real estate?”
Tribute in Light is a danger for migrating birds (Credit: NYC Audubon)
Tonight, Jeremy asked,
“I know it might sound strange, but tonight when I was a couple of blocks away it looked like thousands of birds flying in them. Did they add sparkles or something like that?”
As much as we love them, as beautiful and revered as the Tribute in Light are as part of our nation’s 9/11 commemoration rituals… Jeremy brings up an excellent point.
Those are not sparkles, but thousands of migrating birds — lost within the beams of light, blinding their direction off course.
The migration patterns of birds during this time has caused their advocates to call for major skyscrapers to turn off their lights in order to alleviate bird collision deaths during migration. The most famous example is the Chrysler and Empire State Building, have recently agreed to shut off their lights at night until the end of the migration season on November 1st. Yet, it hasn’t stopped the Tribute in Light from being cast every September 11th.
The NYC Audubon society has conducted studies in which their findings indicated that birds fly at lower altitudes at night, causing them to collide into well-lit or glass fronted high buildings.
The Tribute in Light causes another concern as the lights have been found to blind the birds. According to the group, “September is a peak month for many of the 200 or so species that head south over New York City. The majority of these fly during the night, and under certain conditions they can be placed at extreme risk. Birds can be strongly attracted to artificial lights, perhaps because some species use natural light-the stars, the moon-to navigate. When natural light is absent-during cloudy conditions, for example, or when the moon is new-artificial lights can have an amplified and sometimes deadly effect.”
If anything, it’s a good thing for our fine feathered friends that the tribute is only a night long event.
Lower Manhattan Vehicle and Pedestrian Restrictions
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 to Sunday, September 12, 2010
The City of New York has implemented the following street closures, parking rule changes and restrictions for vehicular and pedestrian traffic in preparation for the September 11 commemoration at Zuccotti Park (south of One Liberty Plaza at Liberty Street between Broadway and Church Street/Trinity Place).
The City’s advisory is as follows:
The commemoration for family members will take place on Saturday, September 11 from 6:30 AM to until late afternoon. Following a moment of silence at 8:46 AM, the names of the victims will be read with music as a backdrop throughout the program. There will be additional moments of silence at 9:03 AM, 9:59 AM and 10:28 AM. During the ceremony, families will be allowed to visit the WTC site.
The Tribute in Light, originating at the Battery Garage, will begin at sundown.
Given the limited vehicle and pedestrian access in the immediate area of Zuccotti Park and Lower Manhattan vicinity, we ask that you encourage your fellow residents, tenants, employees and outside guests to do the following in preparation:
Avoid scheduling deliveries on September 11 until after 5 PM.
Use public transportation whenever possible to stations outside the event area.
Minimize car-service pickups on September 11 until after 5 PM. Traffic along Broadway and West Street is expected to be heavy.
Below is the City’s outline for vehicle and pedestrian access information:
Zuccotti Park will be closed in part starting at 7 PM Tuesday, September 7. It will be completely closed on Saturday, September 11 and will reopen on Sunday, September 12. The Greenmarket in Zuccotti Park will be open on Tuesday, September 7 as scheduled. Vendors will not be allowed to operate in the park on Saturday, September 11.
The R train station at Cortlandt and Church streets will be closed the evening of Friday, September 10 and on Saturday, September 11.
Liberty Street between Broadway and Church Street/Trinity Place will be closed to vehicles, parking and traffic from 7 PM Tuesday, September 7 to 11:59 PM Saturday, September 11. Pedestrian access will be very limited. There will be no pedestrian access on Saturday, September 11. Liberty Street between Broadway and Nassau Street will be closed to parking from 12:01 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 11.
The Liberty Street Pedestrian Bridge will be closed from 12:01 AM to 11:59 PM on Saturday, September 11. To cross West Street, pedestrians will be directed to use the Vesey Street Pedestrian Bridge or go south to cross at street level at Albany and Carlisle streets.
Albany Street between Greenwich and West streets will be closed to vehicles, parking and traffic from 9 PM Friday, September 10 to 11:59 PM Saturday, September 11. Pedestrian access will be very limited.
Carlisle Street between Greenwich and West streets will be closed to vehicles, parking and traffic from 9 PM Friday, September 10 to 11:59 PM Saturday, September 11. The street will be open for pedestrians only.
Thames Street between Broadway and Greenwich Street will be closed to vehicles, parking and traffic from 9 PM Friday, September 10 to 11:59 PM Saturday, September 11. The street will be used for pedestrians only.
Cedar Street between Broadway and Church/Trinity Place will be closed to vehicles, parking and traffic from 12:01 AM Thursday, September 9 to 11:59 PM Saturday, September 11. Pedestrian access will be very limited. Cedar Street between Broadway and Nassau Street will be closed to parking from 12:01 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 11.
Church Street/Trinity Place between Battery Place and Dey Street will be closed to vehicles, parking and traffic from 12:01 AM to 5 PM Saturday, September 11. Traffic will be diverted to West Street. Pedestrian access will be very limited. Church Street between Chambers and Warren streets will be closed to parking.
Cortlandt Street between Broadway and Church Street will be closed to parking from 7 PM Tuesday, September 7 to 11:59 PM Saturday, September 11. It will be closed to all vehicles, parking and traffic from 12:01 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 11. Pedestrian access will be very limited.
Dey Street between Broadway and Church will be closed to vehicles, parking and traffic from 12:01 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 11. Pedestrian access will be open.
Fulton Street between Broadway and Church will be closed to parking from 12:01 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 11. Pedestrian and vehicle access will be open.
Barclay Street between Broadway and West Street will be closed to parking from 12:01 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 11. Pedestrian and vehicle access will be open.
Murray Street from West to Church streets, Greenwich Street from Chambers to Barclay streets, Â Park Place from West Broadway to Greenwich Street and West Broadway from Warren to Barclay streets will be closed to parking on Saturday, September 11. Pedestrian access will be open.
Warren Street between West Street and Broadway will remain open to vehicles, traffic and pedestrians on Saturday, September 11. However, no parking will be in effect.
No parking will be in effect on all closed street—including official permit parking. All cars parked illegally will be towed.
Note that West Street and Broadway will be the prime uptown and downtown traffic thoroughfares from 12:01 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 11. Please allow enough time for travel.
If you have questions, please call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov.
