Showing posts with label Great Local News: New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Local News: New York. Show all posts

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Police Charge Teen in Hate Crime Attack, Seek Two Others


A teenager has been arrested in connection with an alleged anti-Semitic attack in Brooklyn Monday afternoon.


The 15-year-old is being charged with assault as a hate crime.


Police say they’re still looking for two other people.



They say the trio approached a 53-year-old man at the Marcy Avenue subway station in Williamsburg, made anti-Semitic statements and hit him in the head with an umbrella.


“It leaves for a very, very bad feeling of social morale in the city and on the subway,” said one person at the Marcy Avenue station. “Riding the subway should not be a life-or-death situation.”


“It’s pretty unbelievable to me that there’s this kind of bigotry that’s happening, and it’s really upsetting as person, as a minority, that these things are still happening, and I feel like I have to kind of watch my back,” said another.


According to a community activist, the victim is a rabbi visiting from Israel and was on his way to receive cancer treatment.


The victim was not seriously hurt.


Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit http://ift.tt/17IHIZe.





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CUNY to spend $35M over three years on remediation classes


New York’s public-high-school students are so ill- prepared for college that the city is investing an extra $ 35 million in remedial programs to help them make the grade.


Officials at the City University of New York say they’ll expand a booster program to serve 9,000 additional incoming freshmen at seven colleges over the next three years.


As of this year, 4,420 students are getting the extra help.


Only 32 percent of city high-school graduates met CUNY standards this year, according to Department of Education figures, up 1 percent from 2013.


CUNY Chancellor James Milliken touted the university’s partnership with the city, but said the public-school system must “get better at” educating students.


“Obviously, when 80 percent of students who come to community colleges are not fully college-ready and have some remediation [requirements], we have work to do on this,” Milliken said at an Association for a Better New York breakfast Wednesday.


“We need more of this connectivity,” he added. “We’re joined at the hip of the New York City public schools.”


CUNY launched the remediation program in 2007 during the Bloomberg administration to prep students seeking associates degrees who couldn’t pass at least one required course in math, reading or writing in high school.


Students who enrolled in the program were more likely to stay in college, add more credits and graduate more quickly, according to a 2013 study.


DOE officials said the graduation rate is actually double for those in the program than for students fending on their own.


“There is a large need for programs like these to make sure that students who graduated without the skills needed to succeed at the next level are prepared,” said an official.


University officials expect that the program will serve 22 percent of all CUNY freshmen by 2017.


Nearly 275,000 students enrolled at CUNY schools this fall, a record and an increase of more than 40 percent since 2000, according to university officials.





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Bratton gets Billy clubbed with 47% approval rating in poll


Maybe he should stop taking orders from Al Sharpton.


Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s approval rating is in the toilet at 47 percent — compared with predecessor Ray Kelly’s stellar 75 percent rating when the use of stop-and-frisk was near its peak, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday.


Quinnipiac University polling expert Mickey Carroll pointed the finger at Sharpton and Mayor de Blasio for their constant criticism of the NYPD and its stop-and-frisk policy.


“Sharpton is a polarizing figure, very divisive and he has a high profile now,” Carroll said.


“When de Blasio ran, he was knocking stop-and-frisk, and then [Eric] Garner got killed on Staten Island in a [police] chokehold,” Carroll told The Post.


A law-enforcement source also said Sharpton has had a major influence on de Blasio.


“He’s part of the framework of the de Blasio administration. Under Kelly and [ex-Mayor Mike] Bloomberg, Sharpton couldn’t get to first base. He was a non-entity. Now he’s palling around with Obama at the White House. And he’s very anti-cop, as we all know,” the source said.


The source also cited the embarrassing “summit” at City Hall on July 31, when Sharpton sat on a dais and lectured Bratton and de Blasio about police policy.


“He sat in with the mayor and police commissioner during that press conference and he embarrassed [Bratton], telling him how to run his department essentially,” the source said.


In a Quinnipiac poll released in January 2013, Kelly scored his highest approval rating ever, 75 percent, when stop-and-frisk was still a major tactic.


In the new poll, 35 percent of voters disapproved of Bratton.


While Bratton’s popularity rating is the lowest for an NYPD commissioner in 12 years, New Yorkers had a more positive view of the police, approving of the job cops are doing citywide by 54 percent to 39 percent.


And huge percentages of voters of all races still believe crime is a big problem, despite record- low rates for murder and many other offenses.


A total of 86 percent of New York City voters, including 82 percent of whites, 87 percent of blacks and 93 percent of Hispanics, say crime is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem, the poll found.


The de Blasio administration defended Bratton.


“Mayor de Blasio knows that Commissioner Bratton is the finest police leader around, and he is working with the commissioner and the NYPD to continue to bring police and community together, while also keeping New York City the safest big city in the world,” spokesman Phil Walzak said.





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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Man stabbed in the stomach at his UES apartment


A man was viciously stabbed in the stomach at his Upper East Side apartment building Wednesday night, police said.


The victim, who cops describe as in his 20’s, was with his girlfriend when another man confronted him inside of the Isaac Houses at 1830 1st Avenue, and stabbed him once in the stomach and then again in the arm just after 8 p.m., police sources said.


“He was bleeding real bad, He was cut from arm to bone,” said eyewitness Yolanda Abbott, 34, who lives in the building. “He was holding his guts and screaming.”


The man was rushed to Presbyterian Hospital unconscious but he is expected to live, according to authorities.


No arrests have been made, police said.





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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Daily Blotter


Brooklyn


A 27-year-old woman was sexually abused on a Williamsburg street, police sources said.


The victim had just left the Sweet Science bar on Johnson and Graham avenues on Nov. 9 at about 2:30 a.m. when she was approached by the fiend, police said.


The attacker grabbed her by the neck and covered her mouth before scratching her face, sources said.


As the woman tried to escape his clutches, the creep reached up her dress and touched her genitals, police sources said.


The Brooklyn Special Victims Unit is investigating the incident as a felony sex abuse case.


A suspect description was not immediately available.




Manhattan


A subway conductor was hit with a hurled object while his southbound No. 1 train barreled through Tribeca, sources said.


An assailant tossed a box of wooden coffee stirrers at the moving train, hitting the conductor in the face at the Canal Street station on Nov. 10 at about 10:35 p.m., law enforcement sources said.


The 47-year-old victim suffered minor cuts, authorities said.


The attacker fled on foot and was last seen wearing a red jacket. He is believed to be in his 20s.




A woman was arrested for driving drunk in Washington Heights after ramming into a marked police car that was pulled off to the side on the Harlem River Drive, police said.


Margaret Young, 57, of The Bronx, was heading northbound on the highway at about 7:30 p.m. Monday when she slammed into the patrol car that had stopped to help a disabled motorist near the West 178th Street exit, police said.


Young and the cop suffered minor injuries. Both were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in stable condition.


Young was charged with DWI and colliding with an emergency vehicle, police said.


The driver has no prior arrests, police sources said.




A bumbling bandit tried but failed to rob a bank while claiming to have a gun in Tribeca, police sources said.


The suspect allegedly walked into the Valley National Bank on Franklin Street just before 4 p.m. on Nov. 12 and passed a 25-year-old teller a note stating, “I have a gun. Put the money in the bag.”


Then he barked, “Give me all hundreds. I ain’t playing with you, yo, give me all hundreds. I ain’t playing. I have a gun,” sources added.


The teller hesitated and the goon fled empty-handed, sources said.


The bandit was last seen wearing a black jacket, a skullcap and white sneakers while going north on Church Street, police sources said.


He stands about 5-foot-11.


No one in the bank was injured.




Cops have released additional images of a man in a religious headdress — and a shirt open to his navel — who is one of three suspects in a purse theft, cops said.


The trio sidled up to a 26-year-old woman seated at a bar inside the Hotel Chantelle at Ludlow and Delancey streets on the Lower East Side on Sept. 20, police said.


The victim’s bag was hanging on her chair just before the trio disappeared into the bathroom, where the purse was later found, cops added.


The woman’s phone and MetroCard were gone.


Surveillance video shows something in the hands of the headdress-wearing suspect, police said.




Staten Island


A Woodrow man was arrested after sending his teen son to get illegal pills from his car, authorities said.


Carmelo Salvaggio, 36, told his 14-year-old son to go to the vehicle, which was parked on Bloomingdale Road and Marisa Circle on Nov. 11 at about 9:55 a.m., a Criminal Court complaint states.


The son retrieved 50 pain killers, acetaminophen hydrocodone, which were inside a plastic bag, police sources said.


“I sent him to the car to get the pills. I don’t have a pill bottle,” Salvaggio allegedly told police.


It’s unclear how the cops learned of the incident, but Salvaggio was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of controlled substance.


The case against his son, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, will be heard in Family Court.




A former firefighter was busted for having a gun in his van and three more firearms in his Tottenville home, authorities said.


Glen Midbo, 56, was caught with a loaded .40-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun and 10 cartridges of ammunition inside a tackle box in his van on Veterans Road West and Arthur Kill Road last Saturday at about 2:10 p.m., a Criminal Court complaint states.


A search of his home turned up three rifles and one shotgun under his bed, police sources said.


Midbo was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a fire arm, possession of ammunition and unlawful disposition of rifles or shotguns.





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MTA Activates Winter Operations


The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is activating its winter operations plan for the season.


As part of the plan, the agency uses specialized weather forecasts to help transit officials adjust staffing and prepare snow-fighting equipment as storms approach.


For buses this year, the MTA has new tires and chains, as well improved communications equipment.


It also has a plan to increase planning and collaboration with the Sanitation Department.


Nearly 220 miles of subway tracks that run outdoors will also be winterized, and scraper shoes will be used on some trains to reduce icing on the third rail.


The MTA activates its winter plan every November.


It affects subways, buses and the Staten Island Railway.





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Hit-and-run driver slams into off-duty cop, daughter


A hit-and-run driver struck a detective in Brooklyn on Tuesday, led cops on a 4-mile chase and then slammed into another car — injuring an off-duty NYPD sergeant and her 14-year-old daughter, who is in critical condition, police sources said.


The off-duty cop and her daughter were trapped inside the wreckage and had to be extricated with hydraulic tools.


“They were all very bad. They were hurt,” said witness Randi Raymond, 55.


The unidentified driver “looked panicked” as he tried to run away from the second crash scene on Avenue U near Stuart Street — but was quickly caught and arrested, a witness said.


“It was chaos, pure chaos,” said the witness.


The incident began around 2:50 p.m. at East 42nd Street and Farragut Road in East Flatbush, cops said.


Detectives from the Brooklyn Robbery Squad were staking out a van that fit the description of a suspect vehicle when two men came out of a nearby pharmacy and got into the vehicle, sources said.


Cops tried to stop the van when the driver took off and ran over one detective’s foot, sources said.


The van then sped away, and was racing along Avenue U when it veered into oncoming traffic, clipped a Nissan and tore off its rear bumper — with the impact sending both vehicles hurtling across the street and onto the sidewalk, cops said.


A search was underway for the two van passengers.


Additional reporting by Dana Sauchelli





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Police Apprehend Man in Connection with Fatal Subway Push


Police say a man is in custody in connection with the death of a man pushed in front of a subway Sunday.


Police apprehended 34-year-old Kevin Darden as a person of interest in the death of 61-year-old Wai Kuen Kwok, who was pushed in front of a D train at the 167th street station.


Kwok died when the train hit him.


Police picked Darden up in the Bronx around 6 p.m. Tuesday.


Investigators say the attack appears to have been unprovoked, and there is no indication that Darden and Kowk knew each other.


Police are also naming Darden as a suspect in an assault earlier this month that happened on the platform at West 4th Street.


The victim in that case went to hospital briefly with hand and back injuries.





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Jerusalem Synagogue Attack Victim Had Ties to City


The New York City Police Department is keeping a close eye on synagogues around the city after an attack in Jerusalem left four people dead during a morning prayer service.


Israeli police have identified three American victims killed in the attack in a synagogue in Jerusalem.


An NYPD patrol car sits outside a synagogue on Manhattan's East Side.

An NYPD patrol car sits outside a synagogue on Manhattan’s East Side.







One of them was a rabbi with ties to Yeshiva University here in the city.


Aryeh Kupinsky, Kalmen Levin, and Moshe Twersky died after two Palestinian men armed with meat cleavers and a gun stormed the synagogue during morning prayers.


Twersky’s father is the founder of Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies. His brother is the dean at Yeshiva University’s Theological Seminary in the city.


The men were killed along with a fourth person, who is identified as British.


The attackers were shot dead by police.


This is the deadliest incident Jerusalem has seen in years, and Israeli police are calling it a terrorist act.


It comes amid soaring tensions over a disputed holy site in the city.





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Plowed! Drunk man tries to commute home on stolen bulldozer


A New Jersey man took getting “plowed” to new heights when he got drunk and tried to commute home on a bulldozer — slamming into just about everything that crossed his path, police sources said.


Christopher Russell, 30, claimed he was cold, so he swiped the ride and tried to drive it from West Hudson Park in Harrison to Newark at around 9 p.m. on Friday, the New Jersey Journal reported.


Instead, he flattened a tree, three benches, and a water fountain — before and slamming into a parked car, police sources said.


Cops, who received several calls about the rogue bulldozer, found Russel climbing out of it in the middle of Davis Lane near Cross Street, the sources said.


He had left the keys in the bulldozer.


He also tore up grass, a bridge parapet and left a zig-zag of tractor tracks in the park, the sources said.


“He said he was cold and was trying to ride it home to the Ironbound section of Newark,” Harrison Police Capt. Mike Green said.


Russell was charged with a DWI, criminal mischief, leaving the scene of an accident and theft.


His bail was set at $ 20,000.





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Judge scolds WTC BASE jumpers, won’t toss case


A Manhattan judge blasted a crew of BASE jumpers ​who parachut​ed off the new ​1 ​World Trade Center tower last ​year for their “reckless” and “unsafe” behavior that potentially endangered the lives of others.


“Defendants thrill-seeking conduct is nothing more than inexcusable self-indulgence,” wrote Justice Charles Solomon in his decision denying the defense’s motion to dismiss the case. “They were completely aware their actions were unlawful and chose to disregard the law, clearly putting their own interests above those of society.”


He continued, “A dismissal would have no effect on curbing defendants’ future behavior and might even encourage others to try to replicate what these defendants did.”


Daredevils James Brady, Marko Markovich and Andrew Rossig are heading to trial January 15.


They face felony burglary raps for sneaking through a hole in a fence at 1 World Trade Center and plunging from the top of the 1,776-foot-tall tower Sept 30 , 2013 in the early morning hours. Their lookout Kyle Hartwell was also charged.


Solomon wrote that the defendants exhibited “a callous disregard for the safety of the community” and took offense to their claim they did a service to New York by exposing security lapses at the World Trade Center.


He also rejected the defendants’ attempts to minimize the risk their actions posed to others, pointing out that Brady’s parachute became tangled in a traffic light when he landed on the West Side Highway.


But Brady insists his parachute merely brushed passed the stoplight.


The judge also cites entries in Rossig’s diary that describe his other jumps and their dangers.


“Defendant Rossig’s BASE jumping diary is replete with mishaps during his jumps, including landing in trees, hitting power and cable lines, landing in water, and hits or near misses with various objects,” Solomon writes. “Rossig’s diary also references the impact of his behavior. In one instance he writes, “laughing china woman in shock” and in another “swooped the power lines. Scared the innocents.”’


Rossig’s attorney Tim Parlatore disagreed with Solomon’s characterization.


“There’s nothing in here to indicate that anyone was ever in danger, maybe some bystanders were surprised. If the only thing he’s endangering is himself where’s the crime in that?” he asked.


“We expect when a jury hears both sides of the story not just one side that they will see this was not the reckless act that the judge thought it was.”


The adrenaline junkies were busted Feb. 17 , after cops tracked the foursome down through surveillance video that captured the extraordinary leap and their getaway car.


After the DA began its investigation, the daredevils posted the helmet cam video memorializing the feat on YouTube.


The four defendants face raps for burglary, reckless endangerment and BASE jumping.





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Straphangers Blast Idea of Backpack Ban on Subways


Straphangers are reacting to an MTA board member’s surprising comments about backpacks on the subway.


Charles Moerdler suggested a backpack ban during a board meeting Monday, leading many to wonder how it would be possible to bring anything anywhere if you weren’t allowed to carry a bag.


He later backtracked and presented the more practical viewpoint that people are often disrespectful with the bags they carry onto trains.


“There is nothing obnoxious about a backpack. What is obnoxious about it is when the person on a train that comes to a sudden stop, or the person going on in the loading, and the person hits you in the kisser with it, that’s no fun. And if you are short, or you are elderly, you’re gonna have pain. And that’s unnecessary infliction of pain,” Moerdler said.


Riders we spoke with say they’re all for courtesy in the subway — but they better get to keep their backpacks.


“Certain people they don’t follow the etiquette, you know, so you’re getting banged, you’re getting hit all over the place. So I totally understand why,” said one subway rider.


“People go to work, gym, travel, you could also go to the airport on the train. So it makes sense to have a backpack,” said another subway rider.


“The thing I don’t like is, when they have their backpacks on the crowded train that’s the thing with me, you know. It’s crowded. Take your bookbag off,” noted a third rider.


The MTA plans to roll out a public awareness campaign next year urging riders to take their backpacks off while on the subway.





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Cardinal Dolan Hopes to Show Off City to Pope


Pope Francis confirms he is coming to America next year, and there’s a good chance he’ll pay a visit to the city. NY1′s Michael Herzenberg filed this report.


“This is what I want him to see,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan.


Dolan says he wants the pope to see the church and America in action, thanking Goya foods’ for donating 150 tons of food to catholic charities.


Pope Francis might actually get to see the New York Archdiocese’s distribution network.


“We don’t have it official that he’s coming here to New York. I got a good hunch that he is. He has told me personally that he knows of my invitation. He would like to come and he hopes to be able to, but we don’t have any official word yet. When we do, believe me, I’m going to be calling you and shouting it from the rooftops,” Dolan said.


The cardinal says his eminence would likely spend a day in the city, half of it at the United Nations, where he would address the general assembly.


The Pope has only officially announced a visit to the City of Brotherly Love, however.


“I would like to confirm that, God willing, in September 2015, I will travel to Philadelphia for the eighth World Meeting of Families,” Francis said through an interpreter.


This will be the first time that the World Meeting of Families—which is held every three years—will be in the U.S.


“Nowadays, we cannot speak of the conservative family or the progressive family; family is family,” Francis said.


Pope Francis has not been to the U.S. as pontiff. Pope Benedict visited in 2008 and tens of thousands of faithful flocked to him.


Vatican experts say a New York visit is one of a kind.


“The one place in the world that embodies that worldwide church is New York City,” said expert Brian O’Dwyer.


Cardinal Dolan says he hopes this Pontiff will get to experience that as well.


“I’m looking forward, if he comes, please God, to show off New York,” Dolan said.


Cardinal Dolan expects the pope to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral and says renovations will be 95 percent complete.





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Monday, November 17, 2014

Verrazano Bridge toll may jump to $16


Drivers could soon be facing a painful $ 16 cash toll to make the journey from Brooklyn to Staten Island.


MTA officials are considering yet another hike on the Verrazano Bridge that would make it one of the highest fees for a crossing in the country.


The proposal will be voted on by the MTA board in January. The board could choose an alternative that would sock only truckers with the toll hikes.


If car drivers are hit with an increase, rates for most E-ZPass users who live outside of Staten Island would go from $ 10.66 to $ 11.08 for the Verrazano.


Staten Island residents who use an E-ZPass more than twice a month would see increases from $ 6 to $ 6.24.


“Every chance they get, they squeeze us for another nickel,” said Frank Duffy, 39, of Staten Island. “Every chance they get!”


The MTA may also raise the tolls for East River crossings such as the RFK/Triborough Bridge and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel if the board approves the rate increase for cars. Most E-ZPass users would see the toll on those crossings go up from $ 5.33 to $ 5.54, while the cash fee would increase 50 cents to $ 8.


Board member Allen Cappelli of Staten Island said he would oppose any hikes and wants tolls added to most free East River crossings and have rates cut on MTA crossings.


“I will not vote for an increase in tolls, which are already too high until a system is implemented to spread the burden fairly on drivers throughout the entire region,” Cappelli said.


The Verrazano Bridge is currently $ 15 for westbound trips.



Staten Islanders said they hoped lawmakers would fight any price jumps.


“They keep saying how they want to bring tourists here,” said Paul Bruno, 37. “The toll is a major deterrent to any potential visitors with a car.”


Board members will also vote on whether to raise fares by 2 percent to 6 percent on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North, although the increase on lines will vary.


Weekend Metro-North and LIRR trips within city limits would go up by a quarter, the MTA added.


The MTA is also considering raising subway and bus prices to $ 2.75, up from $ 2.50.


Riders can share their feelings about the proposed hikes at eight hearings the MTA will hold between Dec. 1 and Dec. 9.





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Arrest Made in Connection With Midtown Heist Case



Police have made an arrest in connection with a heist at a jewelry store in Manhattan last week.


Police say charges are pending for 37-year-old Rondu Frisby.


Police sources say he may be a friend of the owner’s son.


Thieves hit the Watch Standard Jewelry Store on the eighth floor of a building on West 47th Street on Tuesday.


Police say one man posed as a delivery man to get buzzed into the store while another served as a lookout.


Once inside, police say the first robber pulled out a gun and demanded the items inside an open safe.





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Arrest Made in Connection With Midtown Heist Case



Police have made an arrest in connection with a heist at a jewelry store in Manhattan last week.


Police say charges are pending for 37-year-old Rondu Frisby.


Police sources say he may be a friend of the owner’s son.


Thieves hit the Watch Standard Jewelry Store on the eighth floor of a building on West 47th Street on Tuesday.


Police say one man posed as a delivery man to get buzzed into the store while another served as a lookout.


Once inside, police say the first robber pulled out a gun and demanded the items inside an open safe.





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Arrest Made in Connection With Midtown Heist Case



Police have made an arrest in connection with a heist at a jewelry store in Manhattan last week.


Police say charges are pending for 37-year-old Rondu Frisby.


Police sources say he may be a friend of the owner’s son.


Thieves hit the Watch Standard Jewelry Store on the eighth floor of a building on West 47th Street on Tuesday.


Police say one man posed as a delivery man to get buzzed into the store while another served as a lookout.


Once inside, police say the first robber pulled out a gun and demanded the items inside an open safe.





NEWS – NY1




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Subway driver laments of push victim: ‘nothing I could do’


The subway motorman at the controls when a lunatic pushed a man in front his train said he frantically slammed on the brakes — but the 100-ton train could not stop before striking the airborne victim and killing him.


“I see a body flying across the tracks. I knew that it wasn’t an ordinary jump on the tracks. The guy didn’t go straight down, he was actually in the air,” James Muriel told The Post on Monday.


“I slammed the brakes when he was in the air. By the time I got to him he had just fallen onto the tracks, there was just nothing you can do. I need 300-400 feet to get a train to stop. It’s a 100-ton train.”


Muriel said Wai Kuen Kwok’s distraught wife, Yow Ho Lee, ran over to him and cried uncontrollably into his chest.


“She spoke to me in broken English. She said, ‘Help me! Help me! Help me. Call someone.’” He said. “I told her police and EMs are in route.”


The Poughkepsie man said he – and several passengers — all cried together after the tragedy.


“By the time I got to him he had just fallen onto the tracks — there was just nothing you can do. I was in shock,” said Muriel, 53, a 16-year train engineer. “I would like to apologize to the family. There was nothing I could have done. I used to live in the same neighborhood as the victim.


“I moved away to the suburbs because of crimes like this.”



Wai Kuen KwokPhoto: Facebook



Muriel said he was interviewed by 20 detectives and taken to a medical assessment center for a drug test.


Kwok, 61, was shoved in front of a southbound D train at the East 167th Street station in Highbridge about 8:45 a.m. Sunday.


“I just wish that people learn not to stand so close to the edge of the platform,” Muriel said. “People should always have their backs against their walls.”


NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Vincent Fox on Monday expressed sympathy to the victim’s family.


“Our deepest condolences to the family of Wai Kuen Kwok,” he said. “We’ve been working constantly throughout the night. It will be a 24/7 operation until we identify who did this.”


The NYPD is offering a $ 2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.


Anyone with information should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit http://ift.tt/17IHIZe.





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MTA Unveils Proposed Fare Hike Breakdown


The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday unveiled proposals to increase fares and tolls by four percent over the next two years.


Under the first proposal, the base fare increases by 25 cents, and the bonus amount is increased from five percent to 11 percent when putting $ 5.50 or more on a MetroCard.


Under the second proposal the base fare for cash, Single-Ride Tickets and Pay-Per-Ride MetroCards remains unchanged, but the bonus for putting $ 5 or more on a MetroCard is eliminated.


In both proposals, the cost of a 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard increases by $ 4.50 and the cost of a 7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard by $ 1.


The MTA board will review the proposal and the increases will be the subject of public hearings in December.


Fare increases would take effect in March 2015.





NEWS – NY1




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Shopper sues Gap outlet after ‘humiliating racial profiling’


A Queens man ​says he was ​labeled a shoplifter because he is black and then humiliated after a​ ​Gap store staffer accused ​​him of stealing and forced ​him ​to pull down his pants​ in the middle of ​the bustling ​Woodbury Common ​outlet mall.

​​

Rohan Barnswell was at the store with a female friend in June and walked out after not making any purchases, according to ​his Brooklyn federal lawsuit filed Monday.


But after only a few steps, he was suddenly surrounded by a swarm of mall cops on Segways and bicycles, according to the suit.


With shoppers looking on, a Gap staffer loudly accused Barnswell of stealing items from the retailer and demanded that he lift up his shirt, according to the suit.


The Gap employee “interrogated Plaintiff in front of numerous customers who stopped to see the commotion,” court papers state.


“Finding no merchandise under his shirt, the Gap employee then ordered plaintiff to remove his trousers also in public and in front of numerous people shopping at Woodbury Common,” the suit states.


“After the Gap employee forced him to remove his pants, The Gap employee caused plaintiff significant anxiety by circling around plaintiff to see his backside when his pants were removed.”


After failing to find any stolen items on Barnswell, the employee sheepishly apologized and walked off, court papers state.


“Sorry,” the unnamed employee said after being ordered to apologize by Barnswell’s friend, according to the suit.


“Plaintiff was unlawfully racially targeted, stopped and detained by Defendants’ employees,” the suit states. “Defendants and their agents and/or employees focus their surveillance on minority customers to the exclusion of white customers.”


Barnswell is suing the Gap and Woodbury Common for an undisclosed sum.


The suit comes after a string of high profile lawsuits by black shoppers against retailers including Barney’s and Macy’s for falsely accusing them of theft.





Yahoo Local News – New York Post




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