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

MANHATTAN


MAYOR BLASTS DOLANS’ LATEST STADIUM ADS


Mayor Bloomberg fired another salvo in his war against the owners of Cablevision and Madison Square Garden yesterday, blasting television commercials they are running against Mr. Bloomberg’s favored the West Side Stadium project.


The new series of ads take more personal shots at the mayor. In the past the commercials had tried to focus on the high cost of building the stadium. The new spots, which feature Mr. Bloomberg, say the mayor is not being truthful when he says New York won’t be successful in winning the 2012 Olympics if the stadium isn’t built.


The commercials say other Olympic city venues have not built stadiums before they were chosen as host cities and New York does not need to build the stadium before the Olympic decision is made next July. The commercial strongly implies Mr. Bloomberg is lying.


“The conduct of Cablevision is really inexplicable, it has gone so far beyond anything we should find acceptable,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters yesterday when asked about the ads. “This is so far beyond the pale. I will leave it to you to write the story.”


The men behind Cablevision, James and Charles Dolan, have clashed with Mr. Bloomberg on a roster of issues in the past two and a half years. Among other sore points, the mayor’s support for a new arena for the Nets in Brooklyn became a thorn in the relationship, officials familiar with the discussions said.


The Dolan’s MSG company owns the Knicks of the NBA and the Rangers professional hockey team, both of which play at the Garden.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


POLICE BLOTTER


QUEENS MAN GUILTY OF SHAKING BABY


A former babysitter was convicted at Queens Supreme Court of shaking a baby and causing permanent brain damage, according to the Queens district attorney’s office.


Thomas Walker, 23, of Jamaica, could face up to 25 years in prison for last year’s attack, which left a 10-month-old girl blind and brain-damaged, according to the district attorney.


District Attorney Richard Brown said Walker’s “depraved” attack was “depriving this helpless infant girl of any semblance of a normal life. The crime is shocking and heart-breaking and imposition of a long prison term is more than warranted and will ensure that justice is done.”


The attack occurred August 1, 2003, when Walker was babysitting Abijah Dalrymple, his wife’s cousin, at his home. Walker called 911 after he shook the baby and reported that the girl had struck her head in the bathtub while bathing. EMTs responded and found the baby unconscious and not breathing.


Hospital physicians determined that the victim’s injuries were the result of shaken-baby syndrome. However, Walker’s lawyer Thomas Sheehan told The New York Sun that his client was innocent and that science alone does not prove Walker shook the baby.


Walker appears for sentencing November 23.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


ACCUSED KILLER OF 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL ARRESTED


Police arrested a teenager accused of killing a 14-year-old girl at the Upper East Side earlier this week.


Hector Cruz, 19, of Manhattan, turned himself in to the 23rd Precinct and was charged with second-degree murder. Mr. Cruz is accused of fatally shooting Melissa Gayle at 8:34 p.m. on Monday, police said, though the girl was not his intended target.


The shooting stemmed from a dispute in front of 1624 Madison Ave., police said. Gayle was shot in the chest by a bullet from Mr. Cruz’s gun, though Mr. Cruz was attempting to shoot someone else, police said. Gayle ran to 1590 Madison Ave. and was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 9:10 p.m.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


ALBANY


SUNY, CAMPUSES TOP $1 MILLION IN LOBBYING


The State University of New York and its campuses spent more than $1 million in 2003 to wine, dine, cajole, or otherwise lobby New York elected officials in Washington and Albany, records show.


For example, Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, was lobbied by SUNY at Buffalo to reauthorize the federal Higher Education Act, to help secure funding for an earthquake center and to push a road project among other issues, according to federal lobbying reports. A spokesman for Mr. King, one of the few individual lawmakers named in the sketchy federal lobbying reports, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.


SUNY spokesman David Henahan said lobbying in Washington has reaped for SUNY $60 million in three years through direct congressional appropriations. He said SUNY secured $33.2 million in 2004, up from $15.3 million in direct congressional appropriations a year ago.


– Associated Press

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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