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

BROOKLYN


ATLANTIC YARDS OPPONENTS SAY RATNER DONATION IS PAYBACK


The Downtown Education Consortium organization created out of a deal between Brooklyn community groups and the potential developer of a Brooklyn Nets basketball arena, Forest City Ratner Companies, received $87,000 for youth education programs from Forest City Ratner, the organization announced yesterday. The donation was roundly criticized by opponents of the plan, some of whom stand to lose their homes under eminent domain laws if the development goes forward, as payback for being part of a group that endorsed the development scheme by Forest City Ratner for the Atlantic Yards.


– Special to the Sun


CITYWIDE


FOXMAN LAUNCHES DEFENSE AGAINST ‘CHRISTIANIZING OF AMERICA’


Complaining of the “Christianizing of America,” the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, said yesterday that he will call major Jewish organizations together to develop a unified strategy of defense.


“We face a better financed, more sophisticated, unified, energized, and organized coalition of groups [whose] goal is to implement their Christian worldview,” Mr. Foxman said, adding that the results of a survey the Anti-Defamation League will officially release next week demonstrate the widespread success of Christian organizations. Sixty-five percent of Americans who go to church once a week, and 56% of Americans overall, think that creationism should be taught in public schools, according to the survey. Eighty percent of weekly churchgoers think religious symbols should be displayed in public buildings, and less than a third believe that the courts should protect the separation of church and state.


He worried that contemporary attitudes could lead to anti-Semitism. Seventy percent of Americans who go to church once a week – and 57% overall – believe Christianity is under attack in America, according to the survey. “Who’s attacking it? The media, Hollywood, and the ACLU. … Who runs those?” he said. “There’s not a lot of consensus in the Jewish community,” he added. “We need to sit and schmooze.”


– Special to the Sun


JOSEPH, FORMER CITY DEPUTY COMPTROLLER, DIES AT 59


A former city deputy comptroller, Andrew Joseph, died Wednesday at age 59. He had suffered from a rare form of bone marrow cancer, myelodysplastic syndrome. Joseph served as a budget analyst under the comptroller, William Thompson, until April 2004, when he left to seek a bone marrow transplant and raise awareness for his disease. Mr. Thompson said in a statement that Joseph had combined a thorough knowledge of the budget with a “genuine compassion for the people of our city.” Born and raised in Brooklyn, Joseph worked in government for 34 years after graduating from Queens College and earning a business degree at Baruch College. He is survived by his wife, Terry.


– Special to the Sun


CANCER SOCIETY BLASTS TOBACCO COMPANY SETTLEMENT


The American Cancer Society yesterday blasted a deal that would allow the nation’s largest chewing tobacco company to pay off a $60 million penalty in discounts to New Yorkers. The settlement came in a class-action suit brought by customers in New York and Kansas against the United States Smokeless Tobacco Company. Under the agreement, New York residents who file a claim by September 2006 can receive a package of coupons worth about $100. “This is a disgraceful and deadly profit-making scheme passing off as a corporate penalty,” the chief executive of the American Cancer Society’s New York and New Jersey branch, Donald Distasio, said. “Any kid with a computer will be able to send away for the discounts.” The terms of the settlement will come up for review before a Kansas judge on November 30. The American Cancer Society and other health advocates have submitted letters of opposition to the court.


– Special to the Sun


MTA RELEASES SPECIAL SUBWAY MAP FOR MARATHON


Transit officials yesterday released a special-edition subway map and guide for Sunday’s marathon, which suggests the best spots to view the 26-mile race and the best way to get there on the subway. The maps are available at select subway stops, online at www.mta.info, and at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Friday and Saturday. The New York City Transit Authority will provide shuttle buses to help the thousands of runners get to the race’s starting line in Staten Island.


– Special to the Sun


CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE: TRANSPORTATION FUNDING ‘FALLS SHORT’


The U.S. Chambers of Commerce issued a report yesterday saying current funding of transportation “falls far short of what’s needed to maintain or improve existing infrastructure,” as advocates rallied in favor of the $2.9 billion transportation bond on Tuesday’s ballot, saying the improvements will reduce pollution and its related health costs. Critics have said the bond will add to the state’s heavy debt burden. The bond, half of which will go toward the MTA, is slated to pay for 250 low-emission hybrid buses that will be used in areas with high asthma rates. About 1 million city residents, including 300,000 children, suffer from asthma, which was responsible for $242 million in hospital bills in the city in 2000. Proponents said yesterday that road and mass transit improvements paid for by the bond will reduce fuel use by 6.9 million gallons statewide.


– Special to the Sun


POLICE BLOTTER


POLICE RELEASE SKETCH OF ALLEGED RAPIST


Police released a sketch of the man suspected of posing as a fireman and drugging and sexually attacking a woman in her Chelsea apartment for more than 10 hours.


They are asking anyone with information to call CrimeStoppers at 800-577-TIPS.


The suspect started fires in the 34-year-old woman’s building at about 6 p.m. on Halloween, according to published reports. He then donned fire gear and knocked on the woman’s door, police said, and once ajar, he allegedly forced his way inside and attacked her.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


ROBBERIES INCREASED LAST MONTH, POLICE DATA SHOW


Robberies rose 97% in Rockaway and 56.3% in Central Harlem last month, the greatest increases in robbery reports this year. In the 100th Precinct in Queens, there were 67 robbery reports compared to 34 at the same time last year, Police Department data through October 30 show. In the 28th Precinct in Manhattan, the number of robberies rose to 283 this year, from 181 for the same period last year.


While the numbers show a significant increase from last year, a professor of law at Columbia University and expert in crime in New York City, Jeffrey Fagan, said, “This could be a blip.” Citywide, there was a slight increase in robberies to 19,880 for the first 10 months of the year, the statistics indicate, compared to 19,570 in 2004, representing a 1.5% change. Major crime as a whole was down in the city. This year there were 109,451 crimes, the statistics show. Last year there were 115,224.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


MAN SENTENCED TO JAIL AFTER ADMITTING TO STEALING $1.5M PAINTING


A New Jersey truck driver was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday after he admitted to walking off with a $1.5 million painting at John F. Kennedy International Airport in May. Anthony Porcelli Jr., 35, pleaded guilty in September to grand larceny, the Queens district attorney, Richard Brown, said yesterday. Porcelli stole “Untitled 1982,” a work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, from a wooden crate in a cargo warehouse at the airport. The painting had been sold at auction at Christie’s in November, and was slated for shipping to the buyer in Rome. Video surveillance tapes of the cargo building revealed evidence that led to Porcelli’s arrest, Mr. Brown said. Detectives found the painting at the Cace Trucking Company warehouse in Elizabeth, N.J., where Porcelli worked.


– Special to the Sun


TWO MEN CHARGED WITH TRANSPORTING 600 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA


After a chase, police apprehended one of two men allegedly transporting 600 pounds of marijuana and $25,000 in cash through Brooklyn in a minivan.


On Wednesday at 11:30 p.m., two anti-crime officers from the 63rd Precinct in the Flatlands, Robert Martinez, 30, and James Murphy, 34, observed a vehicle running a stop sign in front of 2038 Schenectady Ave., Mr. Martinez said. Although the officers were in an unmarked vehicle, Mr. Martinez suspected that the occupants spotted the officers because they halted the van in someone’s driveway on Schenectady Avenue between avenues L and M. Two men fled on foot.


The officers drove after the suspects, who were running through backyards and jumping over fences, Mr. Martinez said. He said he caught the driver, Marcus King, 30, on the sidewalk at East 46th Street between M and N avenues. “He pretty much ran out of gas,” Mr. Martinez, who has been in the force for about seven years, said.


Police charged Mr. King with felony criminal possession of marijuana and resisting arrest.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use