The JCM Hosts the Award Ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Scholarship Contest

Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz spent Thursday afternoon at the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn honoring the nine finalists of the annual Holocaust Memorial Scholarship Contest. The contest is a project of the Brooklyn Jewish Heritage Committee and includes students from all of Brooklyn’s public high schools.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

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COP’S TIX BLITZ HITS 9 CARS IN 5 MINUTES

By C.J. SULLIVAN – The New York Post

Brooklyn, NY — Residents of a quiet Brooklyn block were up in arms yesterday after a cop plastered their cars with nine parking tickets in five minutes.

A quick-handed officer from the 70th Precinct unleashed his ticket-writing fury between 8:10 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Saturday on East 23rd Street between Farragut Road and Foster Avenue in Flatbush.

All the parking citations claimed that motorists were in violation of Code 74, improper display of license plates. The nine cars all had car-dealership license-plate holders, but the holders didn’t appear to obscure the numbers on inspection by a Post reporter.

M.T.A. Seeks Designs for Cameras to Be Installed Inside Subway Cars

The New York Times

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has asked two subway car manufacturers to come up with designs for digital security cameras that could be installed inside the cars, officials said yesterday.

Images from the cameras could be used in criminal investigations and could also help investigators in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.

Michael Lombardi, senior vice president for subways of New York City Transit, said the authority had asked Kawasaki and Alstom, the two companies that are producing the latest model of subway car, known as the R160, to propose ways to add security cameras to the cars. The request was made within the last two months.

B’klyn Developers Fear Exclusionary Zones & Tax Abatement Changes

By Helen Klein – Courier-Life Publications

Will boom-town Brooklyn see some relief from development in the near future?

At a recent round table focusing on real estate topics, developers expressed concern about changes to the city’s tax abatement policy for new construction, contending that proposed restrictions and the extension of the borough’s exclusionary zone will make it harder for them to do business, despite the hot real estate market across the borough.

Indeed, Sara Mirski, of Boymelgreen Developers, acknowledged to the group gathered at the Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street, that her company, concerned about the enlarged exclusionary zone in Brooklyn, had not purchased property for development for about two years.

Greenwich Village Gunfight Leaves Four Dead

The New York Times

New York, NY — Police are investigating why a former marine opened fire on a pizzeria Wednesday night, fatally shooting a bartender, and then killing two unarmed auxiliary police officers who chased him through a busy stretch of bars and restaurants in the heart of Greenwich Village.

The gunman himself was shot to death about 9:30 p.m. by regular police officers who quickly responded to the scene, the authorities said.

Other Cities Race Ahead of New York on Fire Technology

NY Sun
E. St. Johns Ladder 123 at the scene of a fire. Illustration Photo.

Six years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, New York City is said to be lagging behind other cities in creating technology to aid firefighters to safely do their jobs.

Since the attacks, the city’s Fire Department has built a state-of-the-art command center in Brooklyn and is installing Global Positioning System units in fire trucks, but a lack of “pre-planning” is putting first-responders in danger, according to some department officials and outside experts.

Bloomberg Backtracks on Parking Tickets

The New York Times
Shoveling snow on Kingston. Photo: Eli Kahan

The Mayor on the John Gambling Show this past Friday

1010WINS: Bloomberg: ‘Deal With It’, Council Members ‘Angry’, Mayor’s Apology.

Click Here for NY1’s newscast of this event

A day after telling New Yorkers to stop “griping” over parking tickets issued to snowbound cars, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg issued a rare apology and promised to waive all tickets handed out today and Thursday for alternate-side-of-the-street parking violations.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience to people, but you know you have to make decisions and each of these storms is different,” Mr. Bloomberg said in his weekly radio program on WABC-AM.

Starrett City Draws $1B Bid From Developer

The New York Sun

Berkshire LLC submitted by far the highest bid — more than $1 billion — for the 5,881-unit Brooklyn housing complex Starrett City, according to two sources familiar the deal. Last night, work on finalizing the deal extended late into the evening.

Billionaire developer Lev Leviev controls Berkshire LLC. Also a diamond trader, Mr. Leviev is a former partner of active New York developer Shaya Boymelgreen and the owner of Africa Israel Investments, a publicly traded company.

New York may ban iPods while crossing city streets

New Yorkers who heedlessly cross city streets while listening to their Apple iPod or fumbling with other electronics devices, such as cell phones, may soon face a hefty fine from the city.

According to both NBC and the Associated Press, New York State Senator Carl Kruger is expected to introduce legislation today that would impose a $100 fine for people who continue to use their electronics gadgets — such as iPods, Blackberries, and video games — while crossing the street.

Orthodox Teenagers Indicted in Hate Crime

JTA – Breaking News

A New York grand jury indicted five Orthodox Jewish teenagers in a hate crime.

Shlomi Bitton, Yossi Friedman, Benjamin Wasserman and two juveniles were charged with second-degree gang assault and third-degree menacing, according to a statement issued Thursday by Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes and reported in Newsday.

Mayor Bloomberg And NYCHA Chairman Hernandez Announce That Section 8 Voucher List Will Open For First Time In Twelve Years

As City Prepares for Fifth Annual Homeless Street Count Tonight, Mayor Announces 22,000 New Vouchers Will Increase Access to Affordable Housing

Click Here to watch the Mayors press conference

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chairman Tino Hernandez today announced the availability of 22,000 new Section 8 housing vouchers for very low-income families seeking affordable housing in New York City. Because of the availability of new vouchers, NYCHA’s Section 8 voucher waiting list will reopen for the first time in 12 years. Individuals and families who secure Section 8 vouchers can seek housing in a neighborhood of their choice from any private landlord who accepts the vouchers. The Mayor also announced that 3,000 of these vouchers will be targeted specifically to households at risk of homelessness. With a voucher, qualified families pay 30% of their income toward the Fair Market Rent set by the federal government; NYCHA pays the remainder directly to the private landlord. The announcement was made at the Queens Section 8 Applications Office in Corona as the Department of Homeless Services and the City of New York prepares for the fifth annual Homeless Street Count tonight.

Mystery smell settles over Manhattan

CNN

Manhattan, NY — New York officials evacuated a number of buildings and shut down some trains after a mysterious gaslike odor was reported Monday.

A New York Police Department spokesman said an air quality test determined that the air is not hazardous, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said there is no indication terrorism was involved.

Click Here to watch the mayors press confrence

Comptroller Accuses Car Insurance Industry of Price-Gouging

WNYC

New York, NY — The city comptroller released a report accusing the auto insurance industry of price-gouging.

Comptroller Bill Thompson says the car insurance industry has raised premiums between 2000 and 2005 by nearly 29-percent, raking in 10 and a half billion dollars from premiums in 2005 alone. He also found companies were decreasing payouts for claims by more than 20 percent.

Thompson’s report says drivers in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens are especially hard hit. He says it’s not just a matter of customers shopping around for lower rates.

Mysterious Tickets

MyFoxNY.com

New York City has another mess on its hands and this time someone’s hands may be to blame. Sloppy parking ticket writers and possibly fake counterfeit license plates could be behind a mysterious parking ticket blitz. Fox 5’s John Deutzman got on the case and got some answers.

Click Here to watch the disturbing findings

Coney Island’s Astroland Sold, Will Close Next Year

Bloomberg News
The Cyclone

Astroland Amusement Park on the Coney Island boardwalk in Brooklyn, which offered rides and thrills to generations of New Yorkers, was sold to a developer planning to turn it into a year-round resort.

The park will close after the 2007 summer season as part of an agreement Thor Equities LLC, a New York-based development firm, according to a statement released by the sellers, the Albert family. Dewey Albert, father of the current owner Jerome Albert, opened the amusement park in 1962, the statement said.

NYers Get Lost In Translation

The NY Post

Almost one in four New Yorkers admit they can’t speak English well, almost three times the national average, according to U.S. Census data analyzed by The Post yesterday.

About 5.7 million of the 7.3 million city residents age 5 and older claimed to know the English language “very well.”

This compares to more than 1.6 million residents who know English “less than very well,” according to the U.S. Census’ 2005 American Community Survey.

TLC Gives Taxi Fare Increase Green Light

NY1

Click Here to watch a newscast of this event

In a unanimous vote the Taxi and Limousine Commission approved a fare hike Wednesday that will double the rate passengers pay for sitting in traffic.

“Drivers deserve as living, but right now, it’s a terrible struggle,” said William Lindauer of the Taxi Workers Alliance.