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

CITYWIDE

Clinton Throws Weight Behind Cuomo

Manhattan’s posh Rainbow Room was the venue where President Clinton threw his weight behind the Democratic candidate for attorney general, Andrew Cuomo. About 200 of Mr. Cuomo’s most loyal supporters — including father Mario — who paid a hefty $1000 for their tickets, whistled and cheered as Messrs. Clinton and Cuomo took the stage. Mr. Clinton told the crowd that while the American founders aimed to “create a more perfect union,” the Bush administration has tried to concentrate power by creating disunion. “With all due respect to my adopted state,” Mr. Clinton said, “New York needs a lot of work now.” The former president also sang Mr. Cuomo’s praises: “I’m so proud of Andrew I could pop,” he said. Mr. Cuomo compared the challenge facing him in Albany to the one that faced Mr. Clinton when he took power after 12 years of Republican rule, but assured his supporters he was up to the challenge. He also spoke optimistically of Democratic prospects nationwide, arguing that Republican failures and voters’ memories of Mr. Clinton’s success amount to “political dynamite.”

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Report Says Girls In Juvenile Detention Lack Services

City and state juvenile justice agencies lack information and are ill-equipped to service a growing number of girls in their system, according to a report by the Citizens’ Commission on Children released yesterday. Data typically collected by the agencies is not aggregated by gender, resulting in inadequate physical, psychological, and emotional programs for girls in custody, wrote the authors. Among their recommendations were: Conducting a citywide assessment, and investing more appropriately in productive programs. According to Department of Juvenile Justice statistics, there are 1,063 girls in custody in fiscal year 2006, up 2.5% from 1,037 in fiscal year 2005. “What’s been happening is the number of girls in the juvenile justice system have increased steadily over the past 10 to 15 years,” a senior policy associate at the Citizens’ Committee on Children, Ailin Chen said, following a City Council hearing where she presented the report. The report comes on the heels of similar data presented last month by the American Civil Liberties Union, which described poor conditions and gaps in services at two upstate New York juvenile detention centers.

— Special to the Sun

IN THE COURTS

Rapper Sues Over Fatal Stampede

Rapper Heavy D has filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against an insurance company he says refused to pay damages to people who sued him after nine students were crushed to death in a stampede at a celebrity basketball game he helped organize at a college. The rapper, whose real name is Dwight Myers, says in court papers that in 1989 he bought a $1 million policy from National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh that covered him for anything involving his work as an entertainer. Mr. Myers, 39, contends in court papers that his entertainment work included a heavily promoted basketball game featuring music stars that he, rap mogul Sean Combs and others organized in the City College of New York’s Nat Holman Gymnasium on December 28, 1991. A stampede occurred at that event after some 5,000 young people showed up at the gym, which had a capacity of about 2,700. Fans crowded down a stairwell to a closed door, where people at the bottom were crushed, nine fatally. Mr. Myers’ lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, says the insurance company exhausted its legal appeals and has been ordered by the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division to reimburse him for payments to victims or their families. His lawyer, Paul Martin, said yesterday that the lawsuit seeks a determination of how much National Union will have to pay his client. Mr. Myers seeks reimbursement of $791,899 — plus interest of $381,167 — for personal-injury and wrongfuldeath claims and is asking for $324,919 for legal fees and other costs.

— Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

Man Stabbed, Woman

Beaten in Queens

Police are looking for a man who may have stabbed a teenager and beaten a woman inside their Queens home yesterday, police said. Police said the assault happened around 5:30 p.m., on 162nd Street in Flushing. According to police, the teenager, who is 19, was stabbed multiple times in the neck, torso, and leg. The woman, 59, was allegedly beaten over the head with a baseball bat. Both were taken to New York Hospital Medical Center in Queens, where the 19-year-old was listed in critical condition. Last night, police did not name a suspect, but they said investigators are looking for a man in his 20s who may live with the victims in Queens.

— Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

Westchester House Prices Increase Slightly, Overall Forecast Is Down

WHITE PLAINS — Prices for single-family homes in Westchester County crept to a record high this summer, but just barely, and real estate agents predicted yesterday that the trend would be downward from there. The median price of a home sold in July, August or September was $716,125, the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service reported. That just topped the $715,000 figure reached in the spring and was up 0.6% from a year ago. As Westchester, one of the highest-priced areas in the country, joined a national slowing of the real estate market, year-to-year increases have slipped steadily in 2006 —from 6% in the first quarter to 2% in the second to less than 1% in the third. Yesterday’s report said the fourth quarter figures, due in January, could show the first year-to-year decrease since 1991. The flattening prices reflect sharp decreases in the number of sales, down 21% from a year ago.

—Associated Press

NYRA To Receive $19 Million From State

ALBANY — The board that oversees horse racing in New York approved yesterday a $19 million bailout of state money for the New York Racing Association, NYRA officials said. NYRA has long warned that if the association is forced to file for bankruptcy protection, the court action could cost New York ownership of Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga race tracks. The oversight board awarded the money on the condition that NYRA officials have no intention of filing for bankruptcy in the next six months. NYRA is competing with Empire Racing of Saratoga Springs and Excelsior Racing Associates for control of the state’s racing franchise. NYRA’s contract expires at the end of next year.

— Associated Press


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