In Shift, Fare for the Subway Will Stay at $2

NEW YORK, NY — Gov. Eliot Spitzer abruptly announced yesterday that he was shelving a plan to raise the base subway fare, saying that an unexpected increase in ridership and other revenues have made it unnecessary.

Buildings Department Inspectors Get Spiffy New Uniforms

The city Buildings Department has spent years trying to clean up its image – and now it’s sending its inspectors onto the streets in spiffy new uniforms costing a total of $385,000.

“It’s really all about integrity, showing the world that these guys are out there and watching,” said Robert LiMandri, the department’s first deputy commissioner.

“With any uniform comes a level of respect. We wanted to make sure that people know that we’ve answered a complaint and showed up on a job site,” LiMandri said.

Proposed Fare Hike Would Add to Overall Rise in Living Costs

NEW YORK, NY — No wonder straphangers feel like they can’t get a break.

The MTA says its proposed fare and toll hikes are the equivalent of modest cost-of-living increases.

Con Edison Is Ordered to Return $18 Million to Customers

The New York State Public Service Commission ordered Consolidated Edison today to return $18 million to its customers for failing to provide safe and reliable service in 2006, a year that included a nine-day blackout that began in Long Island City, Queens, and affected 170,000 people. The highly critical decision could affect Con Edison’s request for a substantial increase in electric rates.

“One of the commission’s foremost areas of concern is to ensure that electric distribution systems are safe and reliable,” said the commission’s chairwoman, Patricia L. Acampora. “Con Edison did not meet four targets for systemwide reliability in 2006. As a result of the utility’s failure to meet these important targets, shareholders are directed to provide a credit to ratepayers. Hopefully, this sends a message to Con Edison that they must be diligent in efforts to maintain a reliable network, or they will face financial consequences.”

Getting Religious About Street Parking

Friday was Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, celebrating the triumph of good, represented by Lord Rama, over the forces of evil. It is a holiday that thrills some of my friends. Not that they are Hindus themselves.

The three-day Islamic feasts of Id al-Fitr and Id al-Adha thrill them, too. They aren’t Muslims, either.

They are, in the main, Christians and Jews. Most of them are not the sort to be found in church or synagogue every Sunday or Saturday morning. But they derive enormous satisfaction from holy days like the Feast of the Assumption or from a days-long Jewish festival like Passover.

Steep toll Hike Possible for NJ-NY Crossings

The Port Authority plans to seek a toll hike of at least $2 on its Hudson River crossings and an increase in PATH rail fares after next week’s state legislative elections, The Star-Ledger has learned.

Yeshiva, hospital labeled ‘high-risk’ targets – Congressman secures Homeland Security funds for Brooklyn sites

Is it money to bolster security against possible terrorist attacks or fishing Brooklyn’s non-profit waters for potential mayoral votes?

Either way, Rep. Anthony Weiner last week touted his work in helping 12 Brooklyn non-profit and religious institutions get federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants.

Among the “high-risk” non-profits, according to Weiner, that are receiving federal funds include such vulnerable targets as the Medical Rehabilitation Center in Borough Park.

Hate Crime VS. Jews on Rise in City

NEW YORK CITY, NY — The number of bias crimes against Jews in New York City soared 15 percent this year, with some blaming the spike on last month’s controversial visit from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Through Oct. 7, there were 94 reported hate crimes against Jews – making up almost half of the city’s 209 total bias incidents, NYPD stats show.

Over the same period last year, 82 anti-Jewish crimes were reported.

Lack of Reform from Mayor Bloomberg on City Marshals

NEW YORK, NY — Supermanager Mike Bloomberg has tackled public schools, cleared the smoke out of bars and nudged crime down to historic lows.

But there’s one bunch that’s been a lot tougher to reform: the guys who tow your car for unpaid tickets.

Police Intelligence Chief Is Honored by the ADL

The Anti-Defamation League yesterday honored the NYPD’s commissioner of Intelligence, David Cohen, as the first recipient of an award named after an Italian police chief who saved more than 3,500 lives during the Holocaust. The police chief of Fiurme, Giovanni Palatucci, forged documents and visas that allowed thousands of Jews to escape death in concentration camps during World War II. He was eventually caught and died in the Dachau concentration camp in 1944.

As he received the award, Mr. Cohen compared Fiurme to New York City, noting that Jews from throughout Central Europe had flocked to the Italian city seeking refuge, much like the millions of immigrants who come today.

New York honored as one of nation’s most bike-friendly cities

It may surprise some cyclists, but New York City has been honored as one of the nation’s most bike-friendly cities.

New York rode away with a bronze medal from the League of American Bicyclists, which recently put the city on par with the college town of Davis, Calif.

The nod comes as Mayor Bloomberg works to promote cycling – installing 400 to 500 bike racks a year, and setting aside 400 miles of bike lanes and paths by 2009.

CON ED ‘PAPER’ RIPPED

NEW YORK, NY — Con Ed charges the highest rates of any major U.S. electric utility, yet rotting paper wrapped around aging high-voltage wires is all that separates the city from its next blackout.

For years, the state Public Service Commission has been after Con Ed to replace its 10,000-volt paper-insulated cables, some of which failed during the 1999 Washington Heights blackout and last year’s nine-day Astoria and Long Island City outage.

Con Ed concedes that the underground cables have a higher failure rate than newer ones, but it has no plan to replace them all before 2024.

Police Commish Meets with Local Shliach, Politicians

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — This morning New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly joined Israel’s Foreign Minster Tzipi Livni on the steps of Cong. Binei Avarham in Brooklyn Heights, where last week a swastika was found spray-painted just days before Sukkos.

The rabbi of the Shul, Chabad Shliach Rabbi Ari Raskin took the opportunity to do Mivtza Lulav with Tzipi Livni on site where the swastika once was.

More pictures in the Extended Article.

Student With Rifle Arrested On St John’s Campus

QUEENS, NY — One person carrying a gun in a bag was arrested on the St. John’s Queens campus Wednesday afternoon, police said.

The man had a President Bush mask and an old-style single-shot .50-caliber rifle, according to law enforcement officials. No injuries were reported.

Police sources said the man is a student of Guyanese descent who lived in a campus dorm. Sources said the student takes medicines for psychiatric issues and that police were investigating whether he had gone off his meds.

9/11 – 6 Years

Today, 9/11/07 marks 6 years to the terror attacks on our country, the attacks that claimed 2,974 lives.

The official city commemoration schedule, city street closures, along with resource links can be found in the Extended Article.

Police To Step Up Patrols During Jewish High Holidays

Click Here for a newscast of the story (NY1)

The NYPD is taking steps to protect the city’s Jewish community from terrorism during the upcoming High Holidays.

Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday that there is no reason to believe an attack is in the works, but they are stepping up police presence to be prepared, as they have in years past.