New York Desk

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun
NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

CITYWIDE


MAYOR REFUSES TO STEP IN ON TOKEN BOOTH CLOSURES


Mayor Bloomberg signaled he won’t step in and prevent the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from closing more than 150 token booths over the next two years as the transit authority seeks to find new ways to cut costs.


“I can tell you from firsthand experience that it is hard to find ways to do more with less,” the mayor told reporters on the Upper West Side yesterday. “This city has done it and they’ll have to work with token booths.”


The booths that may close are sprinkled throughout the city, including at some tourist destinations such as Times Square, the stop for the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side, and Yankee Stadium, among others.


While entrances would remain open at all affected stations, they would be replaced by HEETs – or High Entry/Exit Turnstiles, the floor-to-ceiling metal gates already at some after-hours stops. Service entrances, which allow passengers to bring large packages, bikes, or strollers, would be locked. Transit officials say the move would save the MTA $8.3 million in 2005 and $29.5 million in 2006.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


MANHATTAN


RANGERS CHEERLEADER SUES MADISON SQUARE GARDEN OWNER


A former captain of the New York Rangers skating cheerleading squad sued the owner of Madison Square Garden yesterday, saying she was fired after she told fellow cheerleaders she was sexually harassed by a staff member at the garden.


Courtney Prince, 25, of Manhattan, said in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court that the New York Rangers City Skaters cheerleading squad had been warned not to fraternize with hockey players but was allowed to mix with staff at the Garden. According to the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, managers and supervisors met or took some of the dozen cheerleaders to bars and restaurants and bought alcohol for some underage cheerleaders.


In the lawsuit against Cablevision Systems Corp., which manages Madison Square Garden, Ms. Prince alleged she was harassed by a member of management at a bar after a post-game party on December 22. She said in the lawsuit that he tried to stick his tongue down her throat and asked her to have sex with him. She alleged she was fired in January after she was accused of “disparaging” members of management by calling them sexual predators. MSG said it believed “the allegations are unfounded.”


– Associated Press


REGION


COURT UPHOLDS DECISION ON RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION


The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a New Jersey court was right to stop a local school district from discriminating against a religious community group. The Stafford Township school district objected to distributing fliers for Child Evangelism Fellowship, even though it distributed fliers for other groups that work in schools. Schools officials said the fellowship involved “proselytizing.”


The appeals court upheld the lower court’s ruling, finding that the school district’s refusal to hand out the fliers boiled down to “viewpoint-based religious discrimination.” The decision added, “The record contains numerous flyers – produced by groups from the Cub Scouts to the local wrestling club – that Stafford has distributed and that seek to recruit members….What Stafford appears to mean when it says that it excludes groups that proselytize is that it rejects religiously affiliated groups that attempt to recruit new members and persuade them to adopt the group’s views. “The Christian Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom litigated the case and the Alliance Defense Fund helped fund it. The groups hailed the decision as a victory for religious freedom.


“Religious speech is not second-class speech,” said the chief counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, Benjamin Bull. “The constitution demands that all groups be treated equally in a program such as the one offered by the Stafford district.”


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


CHAUFFEUR TESTIFIES IN LONG ISLAND MURDER TRIAL


RIVERHEAD – A chauffeur who found the lifeless body of Theodore Ammon in a bedroom of his East Hampton mansion wiped away tears yesterday after being shown crime scene photos at the trial of a man accused of killing the millionaire investment banker.


Milton Macias testified about how he accompanied one of Ammon’s business associates to look for Ammon after the banker failed to show up for work on October 22,2001.He said he and Mark Angelson entered Ammon’s sprawling mansion through a garage door. They searched the house, calling, “Ted, Ted,” Mr. Macias told Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Janet Albertson. The search ended when the pair found Ammon lying naked and lifeless in his bedroom.


Mr. Macias testified during the second full day of testimony in the trial of Daniel Pelosi, who was charged earlier this year with second-degree murder in the death of Ammon, 52, who ran the private equity firm Chancery Lane Capital and was chairman of Jazz at Lincoln Center.


– Associated Press


POLICE BLOTTER


POLICE SEARCH FOR MAN WHO ATTEMPTED RAPE


Police are asking for public assistance in locating a suspect in an attempted rape that occurred last Thursday night in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn.


According to the commanding officer of the Special Victims Division, Susan Morely, the suspect followed the 30-year-old victim into her apartment building, posing as a repairman. As the victim entered her first-floor apartment, the suspect waited by the elevator. After the victim entered her apartment, the suspect knocked and told the victim he was a repairman sent by the building superintendent, and he was there to do work on her bathroom ceiling, which was in need of repairs. The victim let the suspect into her home. While the suspect was in the bathroom, the victim went into her bedroom. The suspect followed her, drew a knife, and attempted to sexually assault her. After a struggle, the victim managed to escape.


The suspect fled after stealing $10 and a MetroCard from the victim’s purse. Police say the suspect is described as a Hispanic male, between 30 and 35 years old, between 5 foot 7 and 5 foot 9,with a medium to husky build. He was wearing a blue jacket, a blue baseball cap, and blue jeans. Police ask anyone with information to call 800-577-TIPS.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


WOMAN SHOT DEAD ON UPPER EAST SIDE


A 21-year-old woman was shot and killed yesterday evening after a dispute in Manhattan ended in gunfire, police said. The shooting took place at 8:34 p.m. last night in front of 1590 Madison Ave. on the Upper East Side. The victim was struck in the chest and taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.


The suspects are unknown males. It is unclear whether the victim was involved in the dispute that precipitated the shooting, police said. No arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing.


– Special to the Sun


DETECTIVE PLEADS GUILTY OF STEALING DURING POLICE STING


A retired Queens detective pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing $169,000 of money taken during an undercover sting operation that was part of an investigation into money-laundering, the Queens County District Attorney’s office announced yesterday.


According to the DA’s office, 46-year-old Thomas Ratchko, a retired NYPD detective, posed as an on-duty detective to interrupt undercover officers who were conducting a money-laundering sting. He took a bag that contained $169,000 in cash that belonged to the NYPD and was being used in the sting operation.


Ratchko’s accomplice, Julio Vasquez, an 18-year NYPD veteran, pleaded guilty to the charges in April and will be sentenced February 2. He faces up to three years in prison. Ratchko faces sentencing on the same day, and could face up to 15 years in prison.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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