Posts from — May 2008

Reverend Al Sharpton spoke at a rally last evening before a Critical Mass ride last night to denounce police aggressiveness when it comes to public assemblies, and drew parallels to the police reaction in the Sean Bell shooting incident. Sharpton was joined by Sean Bell’s fiancee Nicole Paultre Bell, Bell’s father William Bell, and other cycling and Union Square Park advocates.

After the speaking portion of the rally, Sharpton actually got on a bike, and after a wobbly start amid the throng of photographers and onlookers, took off west down 14th Street, made a left at 5th Avenue, another left and east down 12th Street, and then back up University Place to Union Square. Shouts of support and many versions of “Was that just Al Sharpton on a bike?” were heard as the Reverend rode (fairly quickly) around the blocks. Video of the beginning of the ride can be found here.

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Flickr.

A crane collapse on the Upper East Side this morning killed two at the Azure condo tower East 91st Street and 1st Avenue. The crane had racked up numerous violations as the building was erected, and it seems that the failure occurred where the rotating platform on which the cab sits met the crane tower.

Killed in the incident was a 27-year-old construction worker, Ramadan Kurtas of the Bronx, and the crane’s operator, 30-year-old Donald Leo (pictured left) who was born in Staten Island and lived in Monmouth, New Jersey. Leo was set to be married on June 21st.

The following streets remained closed to traffic: First Avenue between East 86th and 94th Streets; East 91st Street between York and Second Avenues; East 90th Street between Second and York Avenues.

One Brooklyn city council member has already called for the DOB put a moratorium on all crane operations at construction sites in the city until every crane in New York City is re-inspected.

As if cockroaches, rats, mice, and now bedbugs on the city’s subway platforms weren’t enough, now we’re going to have to figure out how to deal with some larger masked mammals. The footage above shows a raccoon who found its way on to the subway platform at the Bedford Park Boulevard stop on the 4 train in the Bronx. The little guy seemed to have some trouble breaking into the MTA trash can, but didn’t have any qualms about getting his dirty little paws all over the subway bench.

The 38-story Toren condo development designed by Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill at Flatbush and Myrtle Avenues has been steadily rising over downtown Brooklyn in the past few weeks. The BFC Partners-developed building has got 240 market rate units and 40 below-market rate units brought to you by Halstead. At the moment there are 37 active listings and 35 units in contract. The market rate studios start in the $300K range, 1-bedrooms $400K-$600K, 2-bedrooms $600K-$1MIL+, and 3-bedrooms 1.1MIL+.

The building’s skeleton has been growing, but the zebra-themed undulating curtain wall has yet to make an appearance. More photos in the browser below.

How’s Business? on Flickr.

Tape recorder repairs on Jamaica Avenue.

Bringing you local sports scores and stories from around the city.

Cardozo def. Grover Cleveland: 25-18, 25-21

The Times Ledger highlights the Judges’ first city title win since 1997: Eric Barty knew what this felt like, and it upset him. He was having déjà vu.

His Cardozo boys’ volleyball team went to the PSAL Class A city championship game last year. The Judges won the first set against Midwood, but let the Hornets take Games 2 and 3 to win the city title. Back in the final last Thursday, Cardozo won the first set and took a 20-13 lead in the second before Grover Cleveland stormed back to tie it at 20.
[Read more →]

A Staten Island developer received two citations from the Department of Buildings regarding issues with three houses being built in the Dongan Hills neighborhood of Staten Island after a tipster alerted the city agency to the potential violations. It turns out that the tattletale was none other than City Council Member James Oddo (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) of “Get the f**k out of my office” fame.

When driving by the houses on his way to the gym, Oddo noticed the steep angle of the driveways being built and decided to alert the DOB to send an inspector. The inspection found that the driveways were indeed too steep at two of the houses, as well as improperly constructed drainage features, curb cuts, and the use of the lower levels as basements instead of cellars. The developer will be fined for the violations. Oddo commented, “With that slope, your rearview mirrors are useless…You wouldn’t be able to see if there are any pedestrians as you’re backing out.”

Whether or not you are a City Council member, you can always call 311 to report suspicious building conditions and hopefully get the DOB to send an inspector.

Terminal 8 and Robert Sowers’ grand window in the 1960’s.

American Airlines Terminal 8 at John F. Kennedy International Airport was completed 48 years ago (the airport was still called Idlewild then) and was recently razed to accommodate the airline’s plans for a new mega-terminal on the site. One contentious part of the terminal demolition was what the airline would do with the building’s iconic 317-foot-by-23-foot wall of red, white, and sapphire stained glass. Created by artist Robert Sowers, it was the largest single stained glass window in the world at the time of its construction.

Although funding and a recipient art institution never materialized to take the entire window as one unit, a local salvage company, Olde Good Things, won a contract from American to dismantle the artwork and keep what the airline did not need.

They are now offering the rescued panes for sale at around $95 a square foot in their Chelsea store and have created a special set of red, white, and blue mini-windows from the Terminal 8 glass salvaged from JFK that are now available online.

AA Stained Glass Window Sun Catcher 8×8 inches - $150
AA Stained Glass Window Sun Catcher 12×12 inches - $200

Look Out! on Flickr.

Learn from this metal lady–always wear a helmet. You never know when piles of construction debris might send you over the handlebars.