Free Republic

The New York Police Department is looking for ways to disrupt cell phone calls and other forms of electronic communication among terrorists in the event of another terror attack in New York, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says. The need to disrupt communications is one of several conclusions that the NYPD has drawn from studying the November attack in Mumbai, India, a three-day rampage by machine gun and grenade-wielding Islamic militants in which at least 165 people were killed and 304 were wounded. Kelly is scheduled to discuss this and other "lessons learned" in testimony Thursday before the Senate Committee on...

Neither Caroline Kennedy nor Washington, DC can solve New York’s fiscal crisis. Last week, New York deputy mayor Kevin Sheekey argued that Caroline Kennedy, a Barack Obama supporter during the presidential race, was New York’s only acceptable choice to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate. “If Caroline is appointed, Barack Obama has to come to New York as his first political trip to . . . support her and, in turn, New York,” Sheekey said. What kind of “support” would that be? “New York has a huge budget gap,” Sheekey explained. “That means giant cuts. . . . We need...

UPDATED - ALERT - Frightening Text Messages Being Forwarded Around NY Jews January 2, 2009 3:00PM EST: [UPDATE BELOW] With the situation in Gaza deteriorating by the day, and anti-semitism rampant around the world, thousands of NY Jews were frightened upon receiving the following text message which has been going around on Friday afternoon: “A Jewish woman gave a tip to a Muslim taxi driver and out of appreciation he warned her not to go to Manhattan next week Wednesday.” YWN has reached out to high-ranking members of the NYPD, and have stated that although they received the same text...

Please go to these links to see the Anti-Israel hatred of the hamas supporters in Times Square Sunday, 4 Jan, 2009

January 2, 2009 Workers Ordered to Give Up City-Owned Cars By MICHAEL BARBARO Economic hard times are about to hit New York City’s employees where it hurts: in their driveways. As the Bloomberg administration scrambles to cut spending, it is ordering city agencies like the police, parks and health departments to give up nearly 700 city-owned cars, a cherished perk for their workers. The move would save $20 million over the next two years, according to a copy of the memorandum sent to city agencies. The decision to sell off scores of Toyota Prius cars and Ford Escape sport utility...

A meteorite impact off Long Island 2,300 years ago may have set off a huge tsunami that flooded the New York City region, a new study says (New York City and Long Island map). It's not known whether any ancient settlements were in the path of the proposed killer waves, but "any significant tsunami today would be devastating and likely to flood places like lower Manhattan," Vanderbilt University geologist Steven Goodbred said. Tsunamis are typically triggered by seismic events. An undersea earthquake, for example, caused the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. But meteorite strikes have also been known to spark...

Did the Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop malfunction?? We didn't see it drop! Hill/Billary were supposed to push the button to release it. If so, it only proves that the Dems can't even drop the ball right!!

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52517 New York Guard Readies for New Year's Eve By Eric Durr Special to American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 31, 2008 – As New Yorkers and visitors gear up today for New Year's Eve celebrations, the citizen soldiers and airmen of the New York National Guard are ready to support homeland security missions throughout the state, officials said. At the direction of Gov. David Paterson, members of the New York Army and Air National Guard will conduct additional security missions and stand ready to respond to local civil authorities if an emergency...

Did a big wave hit the Big Apple way back when? Scientists say a tsunami struck the New York City area 2,300 years ago, possibly as a result of a meteorite crashing into the Atlantic Ocean.

Bill and Hillary Clinton will push the ceremonial button to signal the lowering of the giant illuminated ball in New York's Times Square this New Year. The former president and his wife -- a U.S. senator from New York and President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of State -- will join New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in this year's festivities, event organizers said in a statement Tuesday.

In what may be the latest sign of the harsh economic times, five banks in four boroughs were robbed on Monday, four of them within an hour and a half. But if the robberies, in their frequency and timing, were startling, so too was their brazenness. Most of them occurred in heavily trafficked areas in broad daylight, including one that took place steps away from Lincoln Center in the middle of the afternoon. Bank robberies in the city are up by 54 percent this year, the Police Department said, to 431 as of Monday afternoon, from 280 at this time...

Caroline Kennedy, you know, might need, you know, a speech coach, um, if she, you know, wants, um, to be a senator. Um, you know? Kennedy, who gave a flurry of media interviews on Friday and Saturday, revealed some cringing verbal tics that showed her inexperience as a speaker, experts told the Daily News. In a 30-minute session with The News on Saturday, Kennedy punctuated her answers with "you know" more than 200 times. "Um" was fairly constant, too.

Ok, I'll admit, I'm up late. At 4:00 ABC's World News Now ran their headlines. First teaser: A flyover view of midtown Manhattan leading into Times Square. Focus on the video board above the US military recruiting station. A heads-up display appears and an explosion takes place over Times Square. Voice over says,"Mideast Attacks; Israel Pounds Gaza Two Days In a Row..." Then the scene shifts to Gaza.OK, here's the deal. I'm not crazy. It may be sloppy editing. But I have this on an HDTV, along with a DVR that I've been running back and forth looking at this...

Is the author of this complaint any relation to Madoff. They appear to have the same last name.

Forget the Profiles in Courage award. For this interview yesterday Caroline Kennedy deserves the Profiles in Chutzpah Award. See, JFK’s only surviving child wants Hillary Clinton’s seat in the U.S. Senate, although she has absolutely no qualifications for the position other than her last name, which by the way used to be Schlossberg until last summer. Now all these dreadful, sweaty Albany and D.C. parvenus who actually had to run for political office are complaining about Ms. Kennedy’s ever-so-Kennedy-esque attempt to cut in line ahead of them. So Caroline grants - or should I say, grahhhhnts - an interview to...

On a recent trip to New York City, [sherri] noticed the abundant "NYPD Security Camera" signage. She Ò on her little sousveillance tour and did some digging to learn more about the system.

When the rich get a sniffle, their doormen get pneumonia. Doormen say their tips are down drastically this holiday season as well-heeled residents deal with the stock market crash and waves of layoffs on Wall Street. "A lot of people who live here work in the banking industry and on Wall Street," said Luis Delgado, a doorman at a building in West End Ave. and W. 81st St. "They have been hit. Many faced layoffs." Delgado keeps careful track of who tips him and how much - for his finances, of course. Only 30 of the 90 names on his...

From 24/7 Wall St - based upon background and financials, ten major companies predicted to go away in 2009. Number 6 on the list? The New York Times. h/t An email from Pundita: 24/7 Wall St. looked at some of the largest and most well-known companies, reviewed their SEC filings if they are public, analyst reports, and media observations about their businesses and picked ten that probably won’t be around at the end of next year. 6) The New York Times (NYT) has to repay $400 million in debt in the first half of 2009. It does not have the...

A former "Sopranos" actor has been cleared of second-degree murder in the shooting death of an off-duty policeman during a drunken, late-night search for drugs in Bronx three years ago. The jury convicted Lillo Brancato of a lesser charge of attempted burglary. He faces a minimum of three years in prison on that count, but the former actor could get credit for time served because he has been behind bars about that long.

Whether you love it, hate it, or have never thought about it, chances are some politician wants to ban it. "Welcome to the Nanny State Nation," says reason.tv host Drew Carey. "Where the government minds your own business." Saggy pants, fire places, plastic bags, light bulbs, poker—it's all been banned somewhere. Same with owning swine or fowl, feeding pigeons, owning pit bulls, and chomping on trans fats, a naughty little substance that makes food taste better. Of course, smoking's been banned in all sorts of places—indoors, outdoors, near doors, beaches, casinos, even private homes. America's smoking ban craze began in...

A New York City councilman accused of intentionally slashing his girlfriend in the face with a broken glass called it an "unfortunate accident" on Saturday. "I have been charged with offenses that I did not commit and am not capable of committing," Hiram Monserrate, a Democratic councilman and state senator-elect, said in a statement a day after he was arrested on domestic violence charges. Monserrate got into an argument with girlfriend Karla Giraldo, 30, early Friday at his Queens house, according to a criminal complaint. Giraldo said Monserrate broke a glass in his hand and cut her face with it,...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp1330.htm December 17, 2008 HP-1330 Treasury Designates Bank Melli Front Company in New York City Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated ASSA CORP., a front company created and controlled by Iran's Bank Melli and domiciled in New York, and its parent organization, ASSA CO. LTD, located in the Channel Islands. "This scheme to use a front company set up by Bank Melli -- a known proliferator -- to funnel money from the United States to Iran is yet another example of Iran's duplicity," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial...

The Bush administration moved Wednesday to clamp down financially on a New York City business suspected of acting as a front company for Iran's Bank Melli, which has been accused of providing support to Iran's nuclear program. "This scheme to use a front company set up by Bank Melli - a known proliferator - to funnel money from the United States to Iran is yet another example of Iran's duplicity," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Judge limits liability of aviation defendants to replacement costs of WTC towers A judge says developer Larry Silverstein cannot recover more from the aviation industry than the $2.8 billion value of the World Trade Center if his lawsuits succeed. Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein made the determination in a ruling filed Thursday. The decision carried Wednesday's date. Hellerstein rejected Silverstein's claims that his company would be entitled to as much as $16.2 billion from American Airlines, United Airlines and other aviation defendants. A lawsuit on behalf of Silverstein's companies claimed that negligence by the airlines allowed the terrorists to hijack planes...

Veteran Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio was indicted for fraud yesterday after plea negotiations in his corruption case apparently broke down. The Manhattan federal court indictment boosted to $1 million the amount of cash the Queens Democrat is charged with collecting through an eight-year, influence-peddling scheme. In early September, federal authorities charged that Seminerio pocketed money in exchange for access to Albany lawmakers. Payments allegedly went to a bogus consulting outfit linked to the Assemblyman.

Teen Sues NYC High School; Others Allege 'Separate Room' Where Agents Hand Out Fistful Of Discipline NEW YORK (CBS) ― A high school in Queens is under fire after students said they were abused by school safety agents. Now a teenager is suing. Rojan Morgan is suing Hillcrest High School after he says several school safety agents assaulted him after he brought a cell phone to school. "They took me to a back room, inside of the school and started to beat me," Morgan said. "When I came to the school I was ignored and shut out and that's how...

$1M SLAP AT SPITZER DAD OVER RACIAL BIASBy PILAR CONCI and TODD VENEZIA Last updated: 2:28 am December 6, 2008 The father of disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer suffered his own disgrace yesterday, when a Bronx jury found he discriminated against four black employees and ordered him to pay more than $1 million in penalties. The jurors took about four hours to decide that racism prompted Bernard Spitzer, 84, to improperly fire a doorman and three porters in 1999 from a building he owned at 150 E. 57th St. in Manhattan. The jurors ordered him to pay a total of...

> The New York Stock Exchange still far outweighs the London Stock Exchange — with the value of shares traded at the NYSE in 2007 nearly triple the $10.33 trillion traded in London. However, the financial sway of cities such as London has been growing faster than New York's. From 1997 to 2007, the new capital raised yearly in New York dropped by nearly one-quarter — while in London the figure almost quadrupled, according to the World Federation of Exchanges. >

CBN News.com - WASHINGTON - A couple of Christian rights groups placed a nativity scene in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday, as part of an effort to encourage Americans to do the same in front of public buildings all across the United States. The National Clergy Council and the Christian Defense Coalition point out many Americans falsely believe such displays are forbidden, and so creches have disappeared from many places where they used to be commonplace... Sadly we are seeing an erosion of the public expression of faith. Nowhere is this more seen than during the Christmas season,"...

The Christian Defense Coalition will display the Nativity Scene on Saturday, December 6, starting at 10:00 A.M. in Times Square. The location is Broadway and 44th Street right below MTV studios.  The Christian Defense Coalition based in Washington, D.C., thanks New York City for giving permission to publicly display the Nativity.  The display is part of a nationwide campaign called, "The Nativity Project," which encourages individuals and groups to display Nativity Scenes in public places across America. (See Article: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/486017.aspx) Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, states, "We are seeing a growing hostility toward expressions of faith in the...

The Times That Try Men's Souls232nd Anniversary of the Retreat at Fort Lee, NJclick for video

A fuming Mayor Bloomberg said Monday he wants Giants player Plaxico Burress prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law" for accidentally shooting himself in his leg with an illegal handgun. The mayor also called on prosecutors to throw the book at officials of the Giants and New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell for reportedly not alerting police about the shooting immediately, as required by law. The incident reportedly occurred early Saturday inside the crowded LQ nightclub in midtown. Sources said the loaded gun Burress was packing slipped down his pants leg and went off as he fumbled to grab it....

Is the return of the squeegee men a sign of a relaxing of law enforcement under the Bloomberg administration or just the harbinger of economic hardship as the city sheds jobs in both the public and private sector? The mayor’s office announced the reduction of the police force by 1,000 uniformed officers, while Citigroup recently gave pink slips to 50,000 workers. From the decade of the kinder and gentler 90s to the millennial shift toward hope and change, the crackdown on petty crime as a gateway activity to bigger and broader opportunities has largely taken a back seat to the...

Sunday, November 30, 2008 Reaping The Consequences The latest article posted by the AP (Associated Press) stated that about 26 percent of New York City adults have genital herpes, compared to about 19 percent nationwide. My friend, this is only the tip of the decadent iceberg! The New York Health Department stated that genital herpes can double a person's risk for contracting HIV. The rate of contracting herpes is highest among New Yorkers, women, gay men and black people. My beloved, one-in-four New Yorkers has herpes!!! That's 2,000,000 individuals! This statistic should frighten and alarm any sane individual. How can...

Revelers pack city as Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade delights young and old   Dr. Seuss' Horton from 'Horton Hears a Who' made his parade debut Thursday. Related News - Photo Gallery Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade balloons Welcome to the biggest turkey bash on the planet. Clowns tossed confetti. Children marveled at the bobbing balloons. And throngs of revelers packed the streets Thursday for the 82nd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  "It brings out the kid in all of us," said Greg Packer, 44, of Huntington, L.I. "It's that sense of togetherness that keeps me coming back."  It was a day...

  Buyer beware! Or in this case, booster beware. Staten Island Mall is posting faces of shoplifters on video terminals.   Slapping the faces of convicted shoplifters on video terminals in the Staten Island Mall is a big hit - or not, depending on who you ask."I think it's fabulous," said Dan Ozimek, a 62-year-old mall shopper. "If you want to do something wrong, you should be prepared to have your face on a screen." "I think it's unfair because people should be forgiven," countered Jason Harr, 24. "People make mistakes and shouldn't have their faces publicized for stealing, say,...

NEW YORK (CBS) ― The world's economic fears were violently pushed aside on Wednesday by another global threat -- terrorism. A massive coordinated attack was launched in Mumbai, India just hours after the FBI warned that Al Qaeda may be targeting New York's subways and railroads. If Al Qaeda terrorists have their way there will be chaos and mayhem here this holiday season, a mass transit bomb plot that would probably affect all the subway and train lines at Penn and Grand Central stations. "The threat is serious, the threat is significant, and it is plausible," said Congressman Peter King,...

Heightened Security In Place At Penn Station; Attack Could Paralyze Transit Between Boston, Washington Cops, Feds Armed With M16s On Patrol For Forseeable Future ### The world's economic fears were violently pushed aside on Wednesday by another global threat -- terrorism. A massive coordinated attack was launched in Mumbai, India just hours after the FBI warned that Al Qaeda may be targeting New York's subways and railroads. If Al Qaeda terrorists have their way there will be chaos and mayhem here this holiday season, a mass transit bomb plot that would probably affect all the subway and train lines at...

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. Macy’s, for instance, usually serves a minimum of 50,000 shoppers on that one day. But as this week’s revelations of a terrorism plot targeting New York City’s subway system remind us, the holiday bustle is also an opportunity for those seeking to inflict mass casualties. That thought may well have been on the mind of Fidel Castro, when he planned a colossal terrorist attack on Manhattan on the Friday after Thanksgiving in 1962. On November 17, 1962, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI cracked a terrorist plot...

Her boy toy may have been a stud, but he was no student.   A Queens teacher fired for bedding a 17-year-old male model is suing to win her job back, saying she had no idea her lover boy was enrolled in high school during their affair.  Gina Salamino, 37, contends her job as a tenured second-grade teacher at Public School 121 should have been spared because Joshua Walter was so busy catwalking he never attended a single class during the 2006-07 school year.  "They have no case," Salamino angrily told the Daily News. "There is no improper relationship."Salamino maintains...

Exclusive: NY Rail Plot Details Based on 'Reliable' FBI Source New Information in Last 48 Hours Led to Public Warning By RICHARD ESPOSITO Nov. 26, 2008 Uniformed police officers have flooded New York City's Penn Station, home to the Long Island Rail Road, following a warning from the FBI of a "plausible but unsubstantiated" threat of a terrorist bomb attack against the system during the holidays. FBI says terrorists may have orchestrated a plan targeting LIRR commuter rails. Law enforcement officials tell ABCNews.com, the plot involved a "Madrid-like attack," a reference to the synchronized bombing of the commuter rail system...

November 26, 2008 Al-Qaeda threat to New York subway, says FBI (John Smock/AP) Subway passengers will see extra police patrols this weekend Times Online The FBI has received a “plausible but unsubstantiated” report that al-Qaeda terrorists may have discussed attacking the New York City subway system during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, US authorities said today. Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that the FBI warning to New York law enforcement agencies meant that there may be an increased police presence in New York and other large metropolitan areas this weekend. The report indicated that al-Qaeda terrorists...

Two New York City Council members say that Citigroup should show its thanks for a federal bailout by sharing the naming rights to the new Mets ballpark in Queens. The struggling bank is slated to pay $400 million over the next 20 years to name the stadium Citi Field. The bank made the commitment years ago, when it was flush with cash. Now that Citigroup is getting billions of dollars in federal aid, Staten Island Republicans Vincent Ignizio and James Oddo say the ballpark’s name should be changed to Citi/Taxpayer Field. Citigroup and Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon have...

Nov 26, 2008 5:00 pm US/Eastern "Feds Warn Of Terror Plot Against NYC Subways Homeland Security: Expect Larger Police Presence In NYC And In Major Cities Across U.S. During Holidays" ARTICLE SNIPPET: "NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― Federal authorities are warning police of a possible terror plot against the New York City subway and train systems during the holiday season, prompting local officials to beef up security at stations. An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system. A...

New York may want to throw out the budget-cutting scissors and grab a machete. The downturn in the financial markets could eliminate 225,000 jobs and cost the state $6.5 billion in tax revenue related to the securities industry over the next two years, according to a grim report released Monday by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. And these estimates may be on the conservative side. The report acknowledges that things could get far worse if structural changes in the industry wipe out many of those high-paying Wall Street jobs forever. Wall Street accounts for 20 percent of the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities are warning law enforcement personnel of a possible terror plot against the New York City subway system during the holiday season. An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system.

She went to a Brooklyn emergency room suffering from what she thought was just a kidney stone, but a medical nightmare left her partly blind and a quadruple amputee. Tabitha Mullings claims doctors at Brooklyn Hospital Center failed to diagnose an infection that has literally eaten her alive. RELATED: BOY WITH GIANT LIMB GIVEN $200G FIXUP "Sometimes I can't believe it's me laying here," the mother of three told the Daily News Wednesday from her bed in the very hospital she blames for her ravaged body.  Wiping tears with a bandaged stump, Mullings struggled to explain how in a...

It’s not just Second Amendment rights that Americans should be worried about, and it’s not just President-elect Obama whom Americans should be worried about when it comes to the infringement of our rights — Congress and smaller state and city governments all have their fat, grubby fingers in the pie as well. Take, for instance, New York City Mayor Mike “Nanny” Bloomberg’s latest attempt to micromanage his constituents. Having already banned smoking in public places and the use of trans fats by restaurants within city limits, Bloomberg now wants to “reduce the salt in processed food by 20 percent over...

RANGEL DOUBLE-DEAL$REAPED DC HOME PERK WHILE BENDING APPLE RENTAL RULES By ISABEL VINCENT and JILL CULORA Last updated: 1:16 am November 23, 2008 Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel took a "homestead" tax break on a Washington, DC, house for years while simultaneously occupying multiple rent-stabilized apartments in New York City, possibly violating laws and regulations in both cases. The situation raises a number of potential problems for the congressman, including: * New York City law requires that tenants use rent-stabilized apartments as their primary residence. * DC's real Property Homestead Deduction Act also requires that a property receiving the benefit be...

NEW YORK — Twenty-two New York City churches have been ordered by the city to stop providing shelter to the homeless. With temperatures below freezing Saturday, the churches had to follow a city rule requiring faith-based shelters to be open at least five days a week or not at all. Arnold Cohen, president of the Partnership for the Homeless, a non-profit organization that serves as a link between city officials and shelters, delivered the news to the churches several weeks ago that they no longer qualify. As a result hundreds of people now won't have a place to sleep, he...