Seeing POD People? It’s No Sci-Fi Film

PODs are the sleeper cells of public health, assuming a different shape and observing different local mores each time a crisis emerges. When hepatitis A was diagnosed in a bartender at the Manhattan nightclub Socialista two years ago, POD people were on hand to vaccinate patrons, including some guests at Ashton Kutcher’s birthday party. In the case of a bioterrorism attack, they might turn up in your neighborhood dispensing anthrax antidote. On Feb. 18, they were in Anshe Sfard Hall in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, rolling up the sleeves of Hasidic Jews. That’s a long way from Ashton Kutcher.

Waronker to Initiate New School Model in Crown Heights

To most educators, 60 elementary-school kids in one classroom would sound like a nightmare.

To founding New American Academy Principal Shimon Waronker, it’s the new way forward.

Queens WWII vet Faults Toyota as ’09 Camry Hits Synagogue

A Queens World War II veteran said he and his wife became the latest victims of Toyota accelerator woes when his 2009 Camry’s gas pedal jammed – sending the car careening into a synagogue.

‘Pre-Washed’ Bagged Lettuce Aren’t As Clean As You Think

NEW YORK — In a study conducted by Consumers Union about 40% of packaged “prewashed” or “triple-washed” bagged salads, sold in New York have unacceptable levels of bacteria associated with fecal contamination.

Obama Plans to Pull Elite Coast Guard Unit from New York

Senator Charles Schumer is urging the Obama administration to scrap its plan to move an elite Coast Guard team out of New York Harbor. The plan is to consolidate Marine Safety And Security Teams from five cities, and then transfer them to Boston as a cost-cutting measure.

New York’s Phantom Taxes

The cash-starved city is socking New Yorkers with a massive ticket blitz in a bid to pump an extra $80 million into its depleted coffers, records show.

Reluctant to raise taxes publicly, the Bloomberg administration is pursuing a “stealth tax” — launching an unprecedented squeeze on Big Apple residents and businesses, cracking down on parking, health, safety and quality-of-life infractions with a vengeance, the data shows.

The ongoing blitz has worked so well that City Hall bean counters expect to rake in a record $884 million in fines by the end of this fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010.

Retired Officers Raise Questions on Crime Data

More than a hundred retired New York Police Department captains and higher-ranking officers said in a survey that the intense pressure to produce annual crime reductions led some supervisors and precinct commanders to manipulate crime statistics, according to two criminologists studying the department.

Mayor Bloomberg Says NYC Faces Radiological Threat

NEW YORK [MYFOXNY] — On the same day Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano discussed terrorism concerns, the federal building in Lower Manhattan had a brief security scare.

Markowitz Sworn In For Third Term; Touts Progress

BROOKLYN, NY [NY1] — After being sworn in for a third term Wednesday night by Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz outlined his commitment to several high profile projects.

During his state of the borough address, Markowitz discussed his desire to transform the armories in Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant into recreational community centers.

81st Precinct Probed for Fudging Statistics

Brooklyn’s 81st Precinct probed by NYPD for fudging stats; felonies allegedly marked as misdemeanors

BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn precinct is under investigation for manipulating statistics to make its cops look like better crimefighters, the Daily News has learned.

Two probes are centered around whether Bedford-Stuyvesant’s 81st Precinct recorded felonies as misdemeanors and refused to take complaints from victims – all in an effort to drive down the crime rate, sources said.

Cop Leaves Patrol Car Running, Thief Steals it

A brazen car thief stole an NYPD highway patrol vehicle with a loaded shotgun inside this morning — and drove it all the way to La Guardia Airport — after a cop left it idling and unmanned while he got breakfast at a Bronx diner, authorities said.

Con Ed Wallet Shock

Eskimos, hula dancers and lobstermen are about the only Americans who pay more for electricity than Con Ed customers.

Con Ed again charged the highest residential rates of any major utility in the 48 contiguous states in 2008, federal numbers released yesterday show. Only folks in Alaska, Hawaii, Fishers Island, NY, Block Island, RI, and some tiny islands off Maine paid more.

Another Sick Call to ‘KILL JEWS’

BROOKLYN, NY — In a stunning display of intolerance, Sixth Avenue in Park Slope was littered with strips of papers reading “KILL JEWS” in capital letters from Fourth to Ninth streets on Wednesday.

Nearly two dozen of the strips were picked up by Karen Guilbert, who had just finished walking her daughter to school.

NYPD Cracking Down on Drivers on Cell Phones

NEW YORK — The NYPD has announced its first 2010 citywide crackdown on drivers using hand-held devices.

The initiative is aimed at promoting safe driving. In a statement, the NYPD said “texting or talking on a cell phone is dangerous and endangers both drivers and pedestrians.”

Power Line Accident Prompts Evacuation and Subway Halt

Workers installing a gas line into a Brooklyn building accidentally struck a power line that feeds the subway on Monday, sparking electrical explosions that blew manhole covers into the air, disrupted subway service and rattled nerves in a pocket of Brooklyn Heights.

Crew, Passengers Reunite on Anniversary of Splash Landing

Passengers and crew members from US Airways Flight 1549, including Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, reunited today on the anniversary of the splash landing on the Hudson River.

FDNY Axe’s Vollie Ambulances

The Fire Department has booted the city’s volunteer ambulance companies from its emergency 911 system, The Post has learned.

The volunteer ambulances “are no longer required,” a high-ranking EMS chief told dispatchers in an e-mail last month.