9/11 Mastermind Kalid Shaikh Mohammed to be Tried on NY Soil

NY Daily News

Gov. Paterson on Monday joined the chorus of critics questioning the government’s plan to try Kalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other accused 9/11 terrorists in New York.

“This is not a decision that I would have made,” the governor said when asked about the upcoming federal trial of KSM and his four underlings.

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Bloomberg Narrowly Wins Third Term as NYC Mayor

NEW YORK, NY [AP] — Billionaire Michael Bloomberg won a third term as New York mayor Tuesday in a closer-than-expected race against a Democratic challenger who stoked voter resentment over the way Bloomberg changed term-limits law so he could stay in office.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bloomberg, the richest man in New York and founder of the financial information company Bloomberg LP, defeated William Thompson Jr. 51 percent to 46 percent.

NYPD Super-Sirens get Ready to Rumble

By Brad Hamilton, John Doyle and Cynthia R Fagen for the NY Post

NEW YORK — If you feel the earth move under your feet, it just might be the cops.

The NYPD is equipping its police cars with a new high-tech siren that you will not only hear but also feel.

It’s called the Rumbler, and its aim is to grab the attention of even the most distracted cellphone-yakking, text-messaging or headphone-addled pedestrian or motorist.

Mayor Bloomberg Breaks Campaign Spending Record

NEW YORK [CBS] — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has broken his own spending record from four years ago, dropping $85.2 million so far on his campaign for a third term.

The billionaire spent $85 million on his re-election in 2005, and $74 million on his first bid for office in 2001.

Crime Down Around City, but Spiking in Crown Heights

By Mike Mclaughlin and Ben Chapman for the New York Post

BROOKLYN — Crime is down so far this year across the city, but some Brooklyn neighborhoods have seen a surge of shootings, NYPD statistics show.

There were 240 gunshot victims in South Brooklyn through early October, up from 179 during the same period in 2008 because of a spike in violence in Crown Heights, East Flatbush and Coney Island.

The Cost of Doing Business in NY: Dr. Calls it Quits

NY Post

Dr. Jacquelline Perlman

Dr. Jacquelline Perlman, who’s helped deliver hundreds of Brooklyn babies in her 12-year OB-GYN career, is calling it quits — and citing sky-high malpractice insurance and plunging income.

“I’ve decided to retire from obstetrics,” said Perlman, 42. “It breaks my heart. Malpractice costs are a big part of it. It’s a very sad story.

The last straw, she said, came last spring when her insurer, the Combined Coordinating Council, noting the high risk of covering obstetricians, canceled her policy and those of doctors she practiced with at Brooklyn Women’s Health Care, a New York Methodist Hospital affiliate.

Bike-Cab Jihad Jerk is a Hate ‘Pedaler’

By Chuck Bennett for the NY Post

NEW YORK — This jihadist wannabe is a “terror” on the road.

Yousef al-Khattab is a Jewish-born, Jersey-raised convert to Islam who schleps tourists on his pedicab by day and propagandizes for the terrorists he idolizes by night.

FDNY EMS to make Swine-Flu House Calls

By Ginger Adams Otis for the NY Post

NEW YORK — Swine flu SWAT teams would treat sick 911 callers in their homes — dialing up doctors for diagnoses and prescriptions — under a radical new plan being mulled by the city to prevent jammed emergency rooms, The Post has learned.

Officials are contemplating a new protocol that would transfer callers who report influenza-like symptoms to a special hot line manned by light-duty paramedics and a doctor, said a source with knowledge of the talks.

Sharpton, Rush in Riot Row

NEW YORK, NY [AP] — The Rev. Al Sharpton threatened to sue conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh for writing in a column that the civil rights leader played a role in two New York race riots.

In a column published by the Wall Street Journal today about his derailed bid to become part-owner of the St. Louis Rams, he accuses Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson of making comments that helped get him booted from a group that was trying to buy the NFL team.

Hate Crimes Up in Brooklyn

BY Ben Chapman and Elizabeth Hays for the NY Daily News

BROOKLYN, NY — Residents in Windsor Terrace are up in arms after a pair of thugs pelted a house with eggs and rocks while shouting anti-Semitic slurs this week, witnesses said.

The alleged bias incident, which took place early Tuesday on Prospect Ave., is the second such crime to rattle the neighborhood in recent weeks – and comes on the heels of other high-profile anti-Semitic incidents across the borough.

NYPD is Tracking Cell-Phone Owners, But is it Legal?

By Rocco Parascandola for the NY Daily News
The NYPD is instructing cops to log serial numbers from suspects’ phones.

NEW YORK — The NYPD is amassing a database of cell phone users, instructing cops to log serial numbers from suspects’ phones in hopes of connecting them to past or future crimes.

In the era of disposable, anonymous cell phones, the file could be a treasure-trove for detectives investigating drug rings and other criminal enterprises, police sources say.

Coming Soon To NYC: Red-Light MTA Buses

NEW YORK [CBS] — There’s a new chief in town — and as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s head honcho, Jay Walder says he’s ready take his first fight to the roads.

His first proposal is an idea that he says can dramatically improve bus service.

Experts: Zazi Could Have Killed Many With Beauty Supplies

By Jen Chung for the Gothamist

NEW YORK, NY — With terror suspect Najibullah Zazi in custody, accused to plotting to bomb NYC mass transit, experts are now weighing on how Zazi’s purchases from a beauty supply store were very dangerous. They say that Zazi “had the means to kill scores of people — not hundreds or thousands,” with retired FBI explosives expert Denny Kline saying, “These explosives are meant to be concealed easily and deployed easily and kill and maim and cause havoc in small areas.”

10 NYC Bridges in Dire Need of Fixing

FAILING OVERPASSES: Contractors yesterday
display images of frightening damage to bridges.
(Photo: Matthew McDermott)

New York bridges falling down, falling down…

The 10 most decrepit state-owned bridges in the Big Apple are desperately in need of federal funds to fix potentially dangerous conditions, a trade group warned yesterday.

Almost all the crumbling structures span waterways or train tracks or are located on major highways, the General Contractors Association of New York said.

Leading the way is the chronically congested Kosciuszko Bridge on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, followed by the Gowanus Expressway and the Bronx River Parkway section that crosses over Amtrak rails, the group said.