July 29, 2005
TLC is considering intercoms for passengers to talk with drivers as part of a major redesign of the taxi partition, reports today's Daily News. Sounds great. Press button: "Mr. Singh! I said go left, not right!" Or what about: "Hello Mr. Lakshmananilkrishna! Would you kindly stop in front of this Duane Reade so I may go in and purchase Bic disposable razors?"
Fortunately the Daily News did quote the true voice of the people, a Haitian cabbie, whose comments got it exactly right: Cabbie Jean-Baptiste Telie, 43, of Harlem, seemed amused at the intercom idea. "The proximity is what ... 2 feet? You would never need an intercom," he said.
Tags:
haiti, intercom, partition, taxi, tlc
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Posted on 7/29/2005
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July 27, 2005
Want a used garbage truck? Today's the big day to buy an old street sweeper, police car, or garbage truck at the Crooklyn Navy Yard. Wait, wait: But some security experts warn that in the hands of terrorists, garbage trucks could be deadly weapons, providing a massive cargo hold for explosives. "This is a major security risk," NYPD detective-turned-security consultant Bo Dietl said. "You can't just let anyone get their hands on them. These are things we have to start thinking about more carefully."
Geez, remember the good ol' days, when garbage trucks weren't a national-security risk?
Tags:
auction, crooklyn, garbage truck, navy yard, police car, street sweeper
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Posted on 7/27/2005
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July 25, 2005
The mayor's home phone was listed until 2001, the year he first ran for mayor, according to today's New York Times. It reappeared in 2003. Public relations stunt? Hardly. Bloomy's press secretary notes that no one has had trouble obtaining it.
Tags:
bloomberg, phone home, verizon
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Posted on 7/25/2005
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July 20, 2005
Wal-Mart plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in newspaper advertising, with full-page ads in local papers in Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island, according to the New York Post. Orders for the ads were placed with newspapers yesterday. Note that Manhattan, where the city's largest and most influential newspapers are headquartered, are not included. Let the propaganda blitz begin!
Wal-Mart will initially place ads in nine community papers — including the Staten Island Advance, the Brooklyn Papers, Queens Tribune Newspapers and the Bronx Times Reporter Newspapers.
The Post notes that the Brooklyn ad brags about the borough's "great cheesecake" and Coney Island, while Queens' touts Flushing Meadows and "classic lemon ice." On Staten Island, Wal-Mart touts Historic Richmond Town and the famed ferry ride through New York Harbor — before repeating its "low prices" lament.
Isn't that great? Wal-Mart loves all the things about NYC except its high prices (which we all know are largely because of higher wages and health insurance benefits that Wal-Mart refuses to pay).
Now here's the clincher: "What we're trying to convey with these ads is letting people know about the jobs and that we are a good corporate citizen," said Masten. "And quite frankly that we'd like to be a part of New York City." Good corporate citizen my ass...Darth Vader never referred to his Empire as a good corporate citizen.
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ads, darth vader, evil empire, newspapers, propaganda, queens, walmart
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Posted on 7/20/2005
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July 06, 2005
Maybe she will join the New York Times' Judith Miller in jail?
Raunchy rapper Lil' Kim escaped a stiff prison sentence on Wednesday after telling a judge she was a "God-fearing good person" who regretted lying to a federal grand jury about a 2001 shootout outside a Manhattan radio station.
The Grammy-winning artist was sentenced to one year and one day for convictions for perjury and conspiracy -- a term far less than the maximum three years and seven months sought by prosecutors.(Newsday)
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federal, grand jury, jail, judith miller, lil kim, slammer
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Posted on 7/6/2005
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July 06, 2005
Lil' Kim has apparently been scrambling to clean up her nearly million-dollar tax mess before she is sentenced Wednesday in her perjury case and has even asked for more time to repay Uncle Sam.
The rapper, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on four federal counts including obstruction and perjury for lying to a grand jury about a wild midday shoot-out outside the Hot 97 Radio station on Feb. 25, 2001.
She was convicted of lying repeatedly to a grand jury in 2003 to cover up for her ex-manager and a member of her posse who exchanged fire with rival rappers Capone-n-Noreaga.
But during her trial, she was also confronted with evidence that she was spending most of her $750,000 annual earnings on bling bling -- not on those pesky taxes.
This June 27, one of her lawyers, Paul Schechtman, filed a letter asking for a brief adjournment in the case until the end of July to allow her to resolve her situation.
"Ms. Jones is trying very hard to satisfy her outstanding tax obligations, either by selling property or borrowing and using the property as collateral," Schechtman wrote. He noted that the prosecutors objected to any delays.
A day later, Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Lynch rejected Schechtman's request, writing "denied" upon the letter.
Reached for comment, Jones' defense lawyer Mel Sachs said, "The request was made to resolve some issues, however we are abiding by the judge's decision."
During the trial, Assistant Manhattan U.S. Attorney Cathy Seibel confronted the rapper with reams of documents showing that Jones owed the Internal Revenue Service nearly $1 million in taxes while she was living large.
Seibel grilled Jones on why she forgot to tell the IRS that she owned about $450,000 in diamond jewelry, instead claiming it was worth only about $49,000.
And Seibel noted that when Jones bought a second home in posh Alpine, N.J., for $2.3 million in May 2002 she failed to mention the tax debt on her mortgage application.
Jones claimed she could not pay the back taxes because she spent $37,000 a month and earned just $30,000.
Asked if Jones would have paid off her taxes by her sentencing Wednesday, Sachs said, "I don't know that it will be resolved but we'll be ready for the judge."
On the stand during her trial, Jones also claimed she delegated her financial paperwork to her manager and staff. "My job is to try to get the money to pay the taxes," she testified. "I'm not going to lie about this. I have nothing to hide. You can call my accountant.")(Newsday)
Tags:
federal, grand jury, jail, judith miller, lil kim, slammer
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Posted on 7/6/2005
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July 06, 2005
Emergency! Paging Dr. Miller!
St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday under a plan to revamp an ailing chain of seven hospitals that has been bleeding red ink for years.
The Chapter 11 petition to keep creditors at bay stunned many of St. Vincent's more than 12,000 employees.
After somber staff meetings, workers faced the prospect of being laid off under a sweeping overhaul that hospital officials said would take a year to 1-1/2years to put into place.
"I am particularly worried because I just started here a month ago," said Cheala Harrison, 27, an ophthalmology technician at St. Vincent's in Greenwich Village. "They always say 'last hired is first fired.'"
Veteran employees said they were scared, too. The hospital system defaulted on a $30 million loan payment in June, forcing it into bankruptcy, court papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court show.
In addition to seven hospitals in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Westchester County, the system also runs four nursing homes and a home health care agency.(NYDN)
Tags:
bankruptcy, chapter 11, emergency, st vincents
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Posted on 7/6/2005
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