The special commissioner of investigation (SCI)—the city’s independent investigator— found evidence that a New York teacher sexually harassed a female student. The Department of Education filed charges to fire the teacher.

At the end of the trial, the teacher received a 45-day paid suspension and kept his job. The hearing officer dismissed the actions as “hugging” and “tickling the waists.”

If the proposal passes, the Department of Education is preparing to file new charges against the individual based on more allegations.

In another case, SCI found that a teacher told a student “Baby, when you turn 18 years old, you could come to my home and we can have a real party.” The teacher also showed the student a pornographic photo from his phone and had inappropriate physical contact with multiple students.

The hearing officer only found evidence of the teacher calling the student “baby.” The teacher was allowed to return to the classroom after paying a $1,500 fine.

A Unilateral Power Shift

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) says teacher and student sexual misconduct has been taken very seriously.

“Our contract already includes the toughest penalty in the state—automatic termination—for any teacher found guilty of this offense,” stated Michael Mulgrew, president of UFT.

“That is not an answer to the problem,” he said.

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A man exhales smoke from his cigarette. (OSCAR SIAGIAN/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—The word “prohibited” on the no smoking signs in New York’s state parks will actually mean “voluntarily” for at least the next few months. The new meaning is based on a change that took place Friday May 25, while the New York State Parks Department fights the legality of their new smoking restrictions.

“We are going through a formal rule-making process and that will take a couple of months and in that time period, we will defer issuing any tickets,” a representative with the State Parks Department said Tuesday.

The reason for the legal action was because the rule did not go through the state Legislature, but was instead made directly by the Parks Department, something Audrey Silk of New York City CLASH, a smoker’s rights group, claimed was unconstitutional. Outdoor smoking bans in state parks have gone through the Legislature multiple times over the past 10 years, but none have passed.

In April, the State Parks Department announced the creation of outdoor smoke-free areas at state parks and historic sites where large numbers of people congregate, including around playgrounds and pools. Those caught breaking the rule would be issued a ticket, however no tickets have been issued in the nearly two months the ban has been in place.

Now, no tickets can be issued during this time, however, the signs, which say “smoking is prohibited” will remain up, something Silk claims is not right.

The Parks Department representative said the signs will not be taken down or covered.

New York City currently has a city smoking ban at parks, beaches, boardwalks, and public plazas, something Silk did not challenge because it went through the proper legal process.

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(From L to R) Rahul Merchant, Department of Information, Technology, and Telecommunications commissioner; Brett Robinson, deputy commissioner for financial management and administration; and general counsel Charles Fraser, at a City Council Executive Budget Hearing on Tuesday. (Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—At a time when the city is making a lot of cuts to social services like afterschool care, you start to wonder what really matters. Call centers meant to improve emergency response times, and the 311 system were examined by City Council Tuesday as part of continuing 2013 executive budget hearings.

The 911 call centers, officially Public Safety Answering Center I and II, were on the minds of many council members.

Two-thirds of the Department of Information, Technology, and Telecommunications’ (DoITT) May Capital Commitment Plan, approximately $600 million would be for the emergency communications project—including the call centers. The city has committed another $1.43 billion to the project.

In January, the NYPD’s 911 call takers moved to the third floor of the answering center, joining FDNY call takers and Emergency Medical Dispatch personnel, and marking the completion of the city’s first consolidated call-answering center.

The second call-answering center, being built in the Bronx would be able to separately handle the entire 911 system in case of an emergency.

An edited report released in early March—withheld by the city before a judge ordered the release, and pared down by about 80 pages from the unedited version before the release—points out errors in the 911 call-taking process, primarily from differences between the three call takers.

Councilwoman Gale Brewer asked DoITT Commissioner Rahul Merchant for a detailed breakdown of the approximately $2 billion, saying the council hasn’t been able to get a “project breakdown in a way that makes sense.”

Merchant said he would get back to the council with that information.

Councilman Vincent Ignizio also questioned Merchant.

“With regard to [call centers], with regard to emergency response overall, the taxpayers of the city of New York are going to spend $2 billion dollars at the end of the day,” he said. “Will this finally solve the radio, the communications, the 911 system problems that we have? Can I look at my constituents in the eye and say, ‘Yeah, there were issues in the past, and we learned some tragic lessons throughout the recent history about it, but this is the solution.’ Is this the solution?”

Merchant said he strongly believes in the program, and “after this program is completed we will solve all the issues that were outlined.”

One issue was accidental 911 calls. The report suggests a public awareness campaign.

311 Call System

The city’s 311 call system provides nonemergency help to residents for a wide array of issues. More than 12 million calls have been received by 311 in 2012, with a little more than 1.5 million in April alone. Three of the top five inquiries: looking up parking tickets, scheduling an appointment with the Department of Buildings, and finding a towed vehicle.

Waiting time on calls has gone up to 69 seconds per call, understandably so since 223 full-time call takers are now 167 after budget cuts.

DoITT suggests people ask their questions through text or the Internet, though Brewer said, “People aren’t going to text, they’re going to call.” As another way to decrease waiting time, the agency is aiming to have call takers spend less time with their customers.

The 2013 executive budget includes $43.5 million for the 311 system.

Another project, the New York City Wireless Network, started out as a public safety initiative. It already has nearly 800,000 devices and 10,000 users, encompasses automated readings of more than 800,000 water meters and 6,500 of the 10,000 traffic signals in the city, and provides live video streaming for the NYPD and other agencies.

Another 60,000 devices and 10,000 users are pegged to be added in the next two years, including 500 personal radiation detectors for the NYPD.

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(Amal Chen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—It’s this time of the year again—time for an urban miracle. The semi-annual Manhattanhenge, also known as Manhattan Solstice, will take place this Tuesday and Wednesday for the delight of all New Yorkers.

A half sun will align itself with the city’s east-west streets at 8:17 p.m. on Tuesday, creating a breathtaking view of the sunset along every Manhattan street of the 201-year-old grid. A full sun will shine through Manhattan’s concrete jungle on Wednesday at 8:16 p.m.

The next and only other Manhattanhenge for this year will fall on July 12 at 8:25 p.m. where half a sun will nestle on the grid. July 11 at 8:24 p.m. will see a full sun on the grid.

Since Feb. 3, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented the preliminary $68.7 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, negotiations have been taking place between the mayor’s administration and City Council.

Hearings have intensified over the past several weeks, with agency commissioners and other high-level officials going before the council to discuss finances and other issues.

According to the nonpartisan Independent Budget Office, negotiations usually conclude by June 5, with the council then voting to approve the budget, which must be balanced. This year, several delays in the process will place the last meeting on June 6, with a full City Council meeting on June 13. Not passing the budget rarely happens, according to the budget office. The 2013 fiscal year begins on July 1.

Transportation and technology expenses will be eyed on Tuesday in the next executive budget hearing, beginning at 11:15 a.m. at 250 Broadway.

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The New York Philharmonic performs a free concert at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine on Memorial Day, May 28. (Michael DiVito)

NEW YORK—Several free concerts in the city entertained audiences and honored the armed forces on Memorial Day. 

In the evening, the renowned New York Philharmonic Orchestra performed it’s 20th annual free Memorial Day concert at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in Morningside Heights. 

Tickets were given out on a first come, first served basis, compliments of the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation. A line, which formed around 6 p.m., wrapped around the building as volunteers carefully counted people to fill the seats inside. The concert was also broadcast outside on the Pulpit Green to those who could not get in. 

The sounds of both a Debussy and Tchaikovsky, conducted by Alan Gilbert, filled the cavernous ceiling of the church. The show, which lasted almost an hour and a half, delighted the 2,200 in attendance, some who had never seen a symphony before.

The New York Philharmonic plans to hold the free concert again next year with muisc from Anton Bruckner.

Earlier in the day, the InterSchool Orchestras of New York Symphonic Band performed at Brooklyn’s Historic Green-Wood Cemetery. The group helps youth learn to play instruments and sharpen their skills through financial assistance and free music lessons, among other initiatives.

“This Memorial Day, as we enjoy music that celebrates the American experience, we are also reminded of all those brave patriots and heroes who paid the ultimate price so that we might live in freedom,” said Richard J. Moylan, president of Green-Wood Cemetery, in a release. “I would like to thank Brian Worsdale and the ISO Symphonic Band for helping us remember their sacrifices as we honor America.”

With additional reporting by Kristen Meriwether.

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Military personnel standing at attention for the Memorial Day service at the Intrepid Museum on May 28, in New York. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Some New Yorkers took time from their day on Monday to join veterans and active service members at various events throughout New York City, honoring those who have fallen while serving their country.

At a ceremony on Pier 86 next to the USS Intrepid, U.S. Navy Vice Adm. William D. French spoke.

“Those who serve and those who fall are not just simply wartime statistics,” French said. “They are not faceless men and women. They are real people. They are fellow citizens. They are America’s sons and daughters, your family, friends, and neighbors. So today is the day to remember them.”

During the ceremony, four wreaths were laid in the water. The first honored all U.S. military personnel lost in past and current conflicts, the second military personnel from allied nations, the third the crewmembers from the USS Intrepid who fell during action, and the fourth those lost in space exploration.

“Today we will lay four memorial wreaths in the Hudson River, in memory of all the brave men and women, heroes, who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their countries,” said Susan Marenoff-Zausner, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum.

After the wreaths were laid in the water, a 100-foot American flag was unfurled, held by veterans and active duty service members.

World War II Vet Holds Flag

One of those holding the flag was World War II veteran Rick Carrier. A first wave D-Day veteran, Carrier stormed the beaches of Normandy, served in five major battles and literally blew off the lock at Buchenwald, liberating the Jews held captive at the German concentration camp.

Carrier wore his vintage uniform, draped in metals. The one he wears around his neck is engraved with his image and that of a 14-year-old boy named Irving Roth whom he rescued upon entering Buchenwald on April 10, 1945.

Carrier has traveled the world telling his story, most recently in Poland. However, taking part in the Memorial Day in his hometown was special.

Carrier was holding firmly with both hands to the stars and stripes as the bugler played “Taps.” He got a little teary eyed recalling the friends he saw perish in World War II.

“I was choked up because I saw that—I saw so many of my friends going into the ground with an American flag on it,” Carrier said.

For Carrier, the flag represented not just freedom, but those lost fighting for it. “This flag is covering all the dead from all the American wars. Wherever these soldiers died, one of these is on their casket,” Carrier said.

“When I was on that flag, it meant I was a survivor of the war,” Carrier said. “It means I am alive and I am honoring the people that died. Holding the flag is an honor.”

“Too often we are caught up in the humdrum of the day, whether it be barbecues, parades, various shopping events, or sales, and allow ourselves to be distracted from a responsibility to remember,” French said.

“That responsibility and our duty is not to forget their commitment, their sacrifice, their loyalty, their heroism, to never forget what they have done for us and our children.”

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Beth Shapiro, executive director of Citymeals-on-Wheels, at her office in Manhattan on May 15. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Mary used to ride elephants in the circus; and one man designed the first leather bomber jackets for the NYPD. Both of these elderly people are part of the fabric of New York and now rely on Beth Shapiro and Citymeals-on-Wheels.

“They are just real people who outlived their family, their friends, and their ability to care for themselves,” Shapiro said. She is the executive director at Citymeals-on-Wheels.

When sharing the stories of the people she meets in her work, Shapiro’s face lights up. Instead of taking credit for all the joy she has brought to the homebound elderly New Yorkers she has helped provide meals for, she looks at it in a different light. “I think it’s the other way. I think they touch our lives. They touch our lives but we hopefully sustain their lives,” she said from her office in mid-May.

Shapiro, who grew up in North Carolina, has an ever-so-slight southern drawl, nearly erased by the last 25-plus years in New York. Her family roots, however, run deep in the city, as both her parents grew up in Brooklyn.

“I’m sort of a southern girl with a New York heart,” she said.

Shapiro says her parents instilled a strong sense of respect for community as a youth, and two grandmothers provided strong female role models who helped shape her passion for helping others.

Beth Shapiro, executive director of Citymeals-on-Wheels, holds a photo of Mamie, a woman she delivered a meal to during her first two months of working at Citymeals-on-Wheels. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

In 1986, Shapiro received a degree in journalism with a concentration in advertising at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She opted to pursue a career in advertising and moved to New York three days after her graduation.

After less than a month in the city, Shapiro secured a job in the promotions department at Ogilvy & Mather, a top advertising agency.

She started out at the front desk with aspirations of getting into the account executive training program to become an account manager.

While manning the front desk, Shapiro befriended Carolyn Fitzgerald, chief financial officer of Ogilvy & Mather Promotions. “She was also from the South and we just hit it off,” Shapiro said. Fitzgerald took Shapiro under her wing and moved her to the finance department, despite finance not being Shapiro’s strong suit.

“It was the best thing that happened because I learned the financial underpinnings of a pretty large organization, which at the time didn’t seem very important to me. But moving along it did, certainly here [Citymeals],” Shapiro said.

From finance, Shapiro moved up to traffic, the department responsible for budget estimates and routing of materials. “Again it set these underpinnings of how to get things done with estimating, with doing budgets, sticking to them, and keeping other people to them. It ended up a good launching pad. I had no idea where it would take me,” Shapiro said.

A year into her move to New York, her brother Ira died from AIDS, something that shook young Shapiro. “I think that that was really a catalyst of figuring out how to do a little bit more with my life. It took a while—it took 20 years after that,” she said.

Shaprio said after her brother’s death, “I realized that there was a deeper purpose, bigger purpose, and this [Citymeals] helps fulfill that.”

Nourishing the Soul

Shapiro spent 20 years in the advertising world before being hired as the director of marketing and communications at Citymeals in 2006. She took over as executive director in 2011. Even in the top spot at the organization, Shapiro continues to deliver meals, going out every six to eight weeks. She asks all her staff to join the delivery team at least twice a year. The hands-on approach helps Shapiro and her staff stay connected with the cause.

The food delivery trips have provided many highlights, but Shapiro fondly remembers her second delivery where she met a woman named Mamie, who happened to live near where Shapiro’s mother had grown up.

Mamie lived in a small, dark, cluttered apartment and was afraid to go outside due to the sound of gunshots. Her shoes were held together by duct tape. “She was a hardworking woman who was all alone,” Shapiro said. “I felt terrible.”

A photographer had joined Shapiro on the delivery. Shapiro said, “We started taking her picture and she [Mamie] said, ‘Should I strike a pose?’ I was in. I just fell in love.”

She still has the photograph of Mamie in her office, six years later. “It moved me and it still moves me. It’s why I’m here,” she said.

Many of the people she meets, not only touch her life, but teach her a lesson in return. On a video shoot for Citymeals, Shapiro met Stanley, who lived in the 4th floor Hell’s Kitchen apartment where he raised his family. Shapiro visited him often after the video shoot.

Stanley passed away in April 2011, an unfortunate reality when dealing with the elderly, but a reality that Shapiro acknowledges is never easy. “I get teary,” she said.

On July 1, funding for Citymeals will once again start at zero, and Shapiro will start to raise money for the new fiscal year. She will also continue to make deliveries with regularity, keeping her bank of stories full.

“I get these great stories and have this love for the people that we feed. To go out and to want to spend time with them to understand what we do, why we do it,” Shapiro said. “The people that we serve help build this city. And their stories are remarkable.”

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A woman does pull-ups near a recruitment tent at Marine Day at Battery Park May 25.(Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—New York City feels like the safest city in the country thanks to the presence of an extra nearly 6,000 sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen from the United States and foreign military units who are in town for the annual Fleet Week through May 30.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the city hosting Fleet Week. With 21 Navy ships now docked around the city, Fleet Week is a time for citizens to celebrate the men and women in today’s active military sea services.

For the service members, many of whom are recently returning from tours in Afghanistan or Iraq, Fleet Week allows them to taken in the sights and sounds of the city. For some it is their first time in the “Big Apple.”

Marines pose during Marine Day at Battery Park May 25 as part of Fleet Week 2012.(Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

“Getting to come out here, for something like this, which most of us have never experienced, it is great. It is a check in the box for me because I have been in [the Marines] for a while and have never done anything like this,” Marine Sgt. Zachary Mendenhall said at Battery Park on Friday.

Marine 1st Lt. Michael Haft added, “It is a great opportunity for some of the young Marines from Middle America and other small towns to come see New York and interact with New Yorkers and show off the Navy-Marine team.”

Sgt. Mendenhall and 1st Lt. Haft returned from Afghanistan this past Christmas Day after a seven-month deployment in the Helmand Province in the Nawa District.

Marines pose with onlookers after a Martial Arts display during Marine Day at Battery Park May 25 as part of Fleet Week 2012.(Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Recruitment Opportunity

Fleet Week includes demonstrations of service members parachuting into combat, a glimpse into life on a Navy ship, and a chance to meet active service members in events throughout the city.

This firsthand look at military life also gives recruiters a prime opportunity to make their pitch.

“We are accessing the whole entire world because a lot of people visit here,” Marine Sgt. Jin Hyun Lee, Marketing Public Affairs representative of recruiting station NY said at Battery Park on Friday. “It is a chance for us to show the public who we really are and the many facets of the Marine Corps.”

Marines pose during Marine Day at Battery Park May 25 as part of Fleet Week 2012.(Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)

Sgt. Mendenhall and 1st Lt. Haft were demonstrating Marine Corps Martial Arts maneuvers, while their fellow Marines let onlookers hold display weapons, sit in a Humvee, and test how many pull-ups they could do.

“It is a very interactive environment. That is No. 1. We want the public to have as much access as possible,” Sgt. Lee said.

Two Marines demonstrate Martial Arts maneuvers while onlookers snap photos during Marine Day at Battery Park May 25 as part of Fleet Week 2012. (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)

“I love hanging out with the kids. We are usually holed up in small, dark, dank places training hard, and it is refreshing to see these young people,” Haft said.

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A sign for a fallout shelter is on a building in the lower East-side of Manhattan on May 23. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Fallout Shelters: Reminder of a Fearful Time

By Christian Watjen
Epoch Times Staff

NEW YORK—Walking around Manhattan with one’s gaze slightly lifted, it is easy to spot on older buildings small signs with yellow-black trefoil labeled “Fallout Shelter.” They are reminders of a time when the country was steeped in the fear of a nuclear war and its catastrophic consequences.

Starting in 1951, under President Truman and accelerated a decade later at the peak of the Cold War, the federal government promoted nuclear shelters as part of a public emergency response. Authorities believed that there was a way to survive the worst of nuclear fallout, resulting from an attack of nuclear bombs.

As a populous city and a financial and economic center, placed in the midst of the “vulnerable heart” of the United States, the New York metropolitan area was seen as a prime target for an enemy attack.

Federal scientists in the 1960s estimated that community shelters placed in existing buildings could protect half of the population in big cities. Until the early 1970s, some estimates indicate that more than 200,000 buildings in New York City were designated shelters.

Even though shelters were the primary objective of civil defense, the planners at that time “understood that the shelters were of minimal help,” said Dr. Laura McEnaney, professor of American history at Whittier College.

McEnaney points out that authorities at that time also had other reasons for constructing and promoting shelters to the population rather than physical protection only.

“There was a psychological benefit to trying to convince the population that they could survive nuclear war. There was a political benefit to convincing the population that if the country was going to choose atomic weaponry as their basis of their foreign policy that people could survive that choice if worse came to worse,” McEnaney said.

The New York State Defense Emergency Act defines a nuclear fallout shelter as a “building, structure, or other real property, or an area or portion thereof, so constructed, altered, or improved as to provide protection against harmful radiation resulting from radioactive fallout.”

Fallout shelters were for radiation protection only and not meant to shield against a blast. It was stocked with food supplies so that inhabitants could survive for two weeks inside.

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Councilwoman Diana Reyna asks questions on Thursday at a Department of Youth and Community Development budget hearing. (Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Parents quitting jobs. Latch-key kids. Increased crime. These are some of the more severe potential effects of proposed cuts to after-school programs, according to City Council members and advocates.

Total funds in the proposed fiscal year 2013 budget for youth services have dropped from $329 million to $244.8 million. The biggest cuts would be to Out-of-School Time, or after-school programs. In 2009, $121 million from city, state, and federal sources paid for more than 75,000 slots; proposed funding for the upcoming budget has $73 million funding 27,000 slots.

City funding alone would decrease from $212 million to $150 million if the proposed budget were to pass.

“These cuts are downright foolish, and every penny that we save on after-school programs today is not only a lost educational opportunity, it’s a lost economic opportunity—and it’s probably a cost to the criminal justice system down the road,” said Councilman Lewis A. Fidler, at a Thursday hearing on the issue.

In a report issued on Thursday by advocacy group Campaign For Children, based on a survey filled out by parents, 36 percent of parents (1,274) who responded said they would quit their job to stay home with their child or children if the proposed budget cuts to after-school programs are passed.

Out of the 4,000 responses, another 16 percent (576) would leave their child or children home alone, while 21 percent (749) would leave them with a relative.

Councilwomen Diana Reyna (L) and Letitia James ask questions on Thursday at a Department of Youth and Community Development budget hearing. (Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times)

“We will restore this money, one way or another, together with the administration,” said Councilman Fidler. “We’re going to have to figure out how to do that so that every neighborhood in New York has after-school programs—ample after-school programs.”

The budget, first outlined by the mayor, must go through negotiations with the city council before getting passed by July 1. It must be balanced, with no debt.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office declined to comment on the issue, deferring to the Department of Youth and Community Development, which had officials testify at the meeting.

“As you have reduced resources, you have to make tough decisions,” said Jeanne B. Mullgrav, commissioner of the department.

One after-school program, a chess program at a Brooklyn middle school, garnered attention in April after winning the National High School Chess Championship. They also previously won the National Junior High Chess Championship. After winning, the team from IS 318 met with the mayor and Department of Education chancellor Dennis Walcott. A few short weeks later, they were told their program would likely be cut.

The chess team from IS 318, a middle school in Brooklyn, won the National High School Chess Championship in April. The after-school program is one of many that would be cut if the current version of the proposed fiscal year 2013 budget is passed. (Courtesy of Elizabeth Spiegel)

“At the moment, we have no money at all for next year: nothing for after-school, Saturdays, or travel,” said Elizabeth Spiegel, team coach, via email. “I’m very sad that the program we have put so much work into building over the years is about to be gone, but it looks like it will be. “

The city also expects more than 131,000 applications to its Summer Youth Employment Program this year, but projects being able to accept only 30,000 applicants.

Having “tens of thousands of kids who have nothing to do will jeopardize public safety,” said Councilman Jumaane D. Williams.

“In each [police] precinct that I went to, the commanding officer sitting there knew exactly what it would mean to have two-thirds of the after-school programs in the city of New York close,” said Councilman Fidler.

The NYPD didn’t return an email requesting comment.

Council members told Mullgrav that she should go back to the mayor and demand more funding. Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez even said he would not pass the budget if the youth service cuts weren’t removed.

George Sweeting, deputy director of the Independent Budget Office, said during a phone interview that council members often threaten to not pass the budget. The only action they can take—other than finding cuts in other places or raising the property tax—is to prepare their own council budget and pass that instead of the mayor’s budget.

“It’s never been really resolved how the council could force the mayor to spend money,” said Sweeting. “They avoided having a final court decision.”

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New York police and FBI agents remove pieces of concrete after digging up a basement believed to contain clues to the unsolved disappearance 33 years ago of 6-year-old Etan Patz, in New York. On Wednesday a man from New Jersey confessed to the murder of the boy. (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—A man has confessed to the murder of Etan Patz, a boy who disappeared in Manhattan exactly 33 years ago on May 25, 1979, according to local media, citing the New York Police Department.

The suspect admitted to strangling the boy after luring him into a basement, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a press conference on Thursday evening, according to NBC New York.

The confession is a new development in an investigation that has spanned more than three decades. The unknown fate of the boy triggered a nationwide missing children movement that included putting his photo on milk cartons and sparked a discussion on the safety of children in public.

After following a tip, a man named Pedro Hernandez, 51, was arrested in New Jersey on Wednesday and questioned at Manhattan’s district attorney’s office.

“In the years following Etan’s disappearance, Hernandez had told a family member, and others, that he had ‘done a bad thing’ and killed a child in New York,” Kelly said.

In 1979, the year of Patz’s disappearance, Hernandez was 18 years old and worked as a stock clerk in the same neighborhood, according to CBS New York.

He confessed to luring the boy with a soda into the basement of the bodega where he worked, and strangling him there. He put the corpse into a plastic bag, and disposed it with the trash, Kelly said.

Hernandez will be charged with second-degree murder, while it is “unlikely” that the body ever will be found, Kelly said.

“This was a tragedy that broke the hearts of millions of people, especially parents across this nation,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a press conference on Thursday, according to the Gothamist.

Six-year–old Etan Patz vanished on his way to the school bus in the SoHo neighborhood, the first time he had walked alone. In April 2012, the NYPD excavated a Manhattan basement following a fresh lead, but found no evidence.

Hernandez was already questioned in 2010 when the case was reopened but statements he made then had contradicted known facts.

“There is no rest for a parent who has lost a child, and there should be no rest for any of us who are in a position to help. There may not be any words we could offer that would ease their pain, but we can and will offer our support—and all the tools at our disposal to help families of missing and exploited children,” Deputy Attorney General James Cole said on Wednesday at a ceremony at the Justice Department marking the day.

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Beach goers enjoyed a sunny day at Coney Island last summer. Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city's beaches will open on Saturday. (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—It’s time to dig out the beach towels and sunscreen—New York City beaches are opening for the season.

“Let me make it official,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said from Coney Island on Thursday. “All of the city’s 14 miles of free public beaches will be open for the season this Saturday.”

The opening of the city’s eight beaches in four boroughs will kick off Memorial Day weekend and mark the unofficial start of summer.

“When I was a kid, summer meant one thing and it wasn’t the Hamptons. It was the beach and fun at Coney Island,” Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said. “Coney Island is a special New York summer treat with all the best family entertainment and it is the only amusement park that is just a subway ride away.”

In 2009, the city proposed an investment of over $150 million toward infrastructure improvements on Coney Island, the iconic beach and amusement park it has owned since 1938.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced all city beaches would open for the summer on Saturday. He spoke on a gloomy Thursday on Coney Island. (Photo courtesy the Mayor's Office)

As part of the improvements, visitors to Coney Island can enjoy two new thrill rides, Boardwalk Flight and Coney Island Raceway in the Scream Zone.

Visitors to the iconic boardwalk can once again frequent Coney Island staples Paul’s Daughter, Ruby’s, and Lola Star that made upgrades to their businesses.

After soaking in the sunshine and enjoying a world famous Nathan’s hotdog, visitors can take in the free fireworks every Friday night.

Despite an outlook for a fun summer season at all the city’s beaches; the mayor did warn beachgoers to be safe. Lifeguards will be on duty from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily with swimming strictly prohibited outside of those times.

“Without lifeguards, it is hazardous. We would like to have a great summer where everyone has a great time, and not have any tragedies,” Bloomberg said.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe advised swimming with a buddy.

“On a busy day on Coney Island there are a million people on the beach. Our lifeguards, as good as they are, can’t watch everyone,” Benepe said.

“If New Yorkers simply pick it up and take it to our litter stations here on Coney Island, and the other beaches, you will be helping us take care of 1,300 cubic yards of litter that we pick up each day,” Benepe said.

Despite the gloomy weather during the announcement, Bloomberg, in his best weatherman impression, said the weekend forecast called for temperatures in the 80s and sunny skies.

City beaches will stay open through Labor Day, Sept. 3.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

The tall ship from Ecuador Guayas passes the World Trade Center on May 23 in New York. The tall ship is participating in Fleet Week events in New York. (Don Emmert/AFP/GettyImages)

It’s official: The sailors have returned.

As Fleet Week 2012 celebrates the bicentennial of the War of 1812, sometimes known as the “Second War of Independence,” the week from May 23 to 30 is full of traditional as well as new commemoratory nautical activities.

Free ship tours will take place every single day at at least two of Pier 90 and 92, Stapleton Pier on Staten Island, and Port Authority Piers in Brooklyn, until Tuesday, while the Memorial Day weekend will feature Times Square performances, Governors Island Family Fest, and Staten Island Music Festival.

Fleet Week Schedule

Friday, May 25

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Free Ship Tours
Where: Pier 90 and 92, 51st St/West Side Highway
Where: Stapleton Pier, Staten Island

9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
U.S. Marine Corps Day in Battery Park
Where: Battery Park

USMC Aviation Events
Where: Hackensack High School, Hackensack, N.J. 9:30 a.m.
Where: Forrest Hills High School, Queens 10 a.m.
Where: East Islip High School, Long Island 12:30 p.m.
Where: Paramus Middle School, Paramus, N.J. 12:30 p.m.
Where: Orchard Beach, Bronx 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 27

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Free Ship Tours
Where: Pier 90 and 92, 51st St/West Side Highway
Where: Stapleton Pier, Staten Island
Where: Port Authority Piers, Brooklyn

9a.m. to 6 p.m.
USMC Day in Times Square
Featuring performance by the Navy Band NE and USMC Band
Where: Times Square

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Air and Land Demonstrations
Where: Eisenhower Park (East Meadow, N.Y.)

Noon to 4 p.m.
Governors Island Family Fest
Where: Governors Island

1 p.m.
Staten Island Music Festival
Where: Staten Island

Sunday, May 27

Free Ship Tours
Where: Stapleton Pier, Staten Island
Where: Port Authority Piers, Brooklyn

USMC Aviation Events
Where: Flushing Meadows Corona Park 10 a.m.
Where: Randall Park, Freeport 2 p.m.
Where: Playland Park, Rye, NY 2 p.m.

10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Staten Island War of 1812 Commemoration Event
Where: Ft. Wadsworth

2 to 6 p.m.
Military Bands in Times Square
Where: Times Square

Monday, May 28

Free Ship Tours
Where: Pier 90 and 92, 51st St/West Side Highway
Where: Stapleton Pier, Staten Island
Where: Port Authority Piers, Brooklyn

9 a.m.
USMC Aviation Event
Where: Clove Lake Park, Staten Island

Tuesday, May 29

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Free Ship Tours
Where: Pier 90 and 92, 51st St/West Side Highway
Where: Stapleton Pier, Staten Island

1 p.m. USN Aviation Event
Where: New Dorp High School, Staten Island

Wednesday, June 1

Ships and service members depart New York City.

For more information, please visit sifleetweek.com.

Two high school students cry during the reading of emotional letters between "dead" students and their parents at the end of the Every 15 Minutes program at West Covina High School May 2002 in Los Angeles, Calif. Every 15 Minutes teaches teens how someone is killed in an alcohol-related car crash every 15 minutes. (David McNew/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—A new hotline will work to prevent accidents caused by intoxicated underage drivers during the high-school graduation and prom season, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday.

“Our communities must work with law enforcement to keep our young citizens safe by preventing underage drinking and its needless resulting tragedies,” New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said.

New York State Police have joined forces with the governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, and the Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Services to promote the newly created “It’s Your Community, It’s Your Call” hotline.

At the number 1-866-UNDER21, callers in New York state can anonymously report friends and relatives engaged in underage drinking and driving of motor vehicles.

While constituting only 5 percent of drivers, drivers under 21 are involved in more than 12 percent of lethal crashes in New York state.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Council member Charles Barron speaks at a protest against the mayor's scheduled cuts for subsidized child care and the Head Start program on the steps of City Hall on May 23. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—A little girl in pigtails stands beside a small boy, both holding colorful petition letters beautifully decorated with crayons.

The letters are a symbol of the 5,000-plus letters written by young day care attendees. The children delivered the petitions to City Hall on Wednesday morning to protest the mayor’s scheduled cuts for subsidized child care and Head Start programs.

“If these kids have no where to go, then people are going to stop working to look after them. If people stop working, they’re going to go on welfare,” said Joyce Mcclammy, who works at day care center Local 205. “Didn’t you say you want to get people off of welfare, Mayor Bloomberg?”

Among the group of protesters stood Lijung Chan, an assistant teacher at the Chung Pak Day Care, located on Walker St. in Chinatown.

She said a colleague of hers had a student whose parents went to register their children at the local preschool center after receiving news about the cuts. The response was, “Honey, we only have two slots open and 2,000 have been coming in to apply for that slot.”

“This is an example of how the public child care is not even enough to begin with, and now they are cutting more,” Chan said.

The Chung Pak Day Care is a part of the Chinese-American Planning Council.

Under the proposed budget cuts, the government will stop funding for the child care division of the Chinese-American Planning Council. Chan said her day care will be forced to close as a result. At least four major Chinatown day care centers will close, according to David Chen, executive director of the Chinese-American Planning Council.

“Let me illustrate to you what kind of kids we take care of,” Chan said. The center looks after a boy who wears his sister’s hand-me-down pants, a child who spends his nights at homeless shelters with his mother to avoid his abusive father, and the child of a mother who works six days a week because the father was in Iraq.

“It’s a matter of prioritization of spending,” said Charles Barron, a NYC council member.

“How come we can build Yankee stadiums, and we have money for the Mets to build an arena, but we’re shutting down senior centers and day care centers?” he said.

“This seems to be a pattern every year, where it is on the council to do extraordinary things to restore what ought to be ACS’s [New York City Administration for Children’s Services] obligation,” City Council member Stephen Levin said during the executive budget hearings at City Hall on Tuesday.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

People wait for the D train at the Harold Square subway station on May 23. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—MTA officials fielded questions and concerns from council members on Wednesday prior to budget appropriations. A creative proposal from Council member Peter Koo suggested a letter grade system for subway stations and matching discretionary funds with the MTA to improve cleanliness.

“Let me make a suggestion to MTA,” said Koo. “We rate the restaurants, A, B, C, D, so we should rate all the stations in the MTA system.”

Council member James Vacca, Transportation Committee chair, immediately said that he seconded the idea, and that every station should be rated “on cleanliness, rats, water, garbage, graffiti,” among other things.

Lois Tendler, vice president of government and community relations, pointed out that boroughs and subway lines are already rated for appearance, equipment, and information. The three parameters comprise a key performance indicator, which gets reported to the MTA’s New York City Transit Committee every month.

Council member Domenic M. Recchia Jr., chair of the Finance Committee, which joined the hearing, said afterward that having letter grades would encourage council members to use their discretionary funds to help fix up stations in their jurisdictions.

“The MTA and the council member could get together, and if the cost was $200,000 … the council member could say, we’ll put up half of it, and you put up half of it,” Recchia said. He has contributed funds towards improving stations in his Brooklyn district, which includes Coney Island and Brighton Beach.

As City Council has no authority over the MTA, we could pass a resolution about the issue, suggested Vacca.

Commuters using their MTA Metro cards at the turnstile of the Harold Square subway station on May 23. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

William Henderson, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, said in a phone interview that letter grades might not make sense since “people generally know what the conditions are in the stations they use.”

“I’m not sure it provides a whole lot of additional information that riders don’t already have by being there,” he said. “In an environment where resources are strained, I’m not sure that’s exactly the path to take.”

Talking about ways to gauge and improve station conditions should continue, though, concluded Henderson. An example is the MTA’s new Fastrack program, which shuts down portions of tracks to give workers unfettered access to perform maintenance. Fastrack saved the MTA an estimated $5 million in productivity in the first quarter of 2012, and will expand outside of Manhattan’s Central Business District in 2013.

Budget Concerns and Fare Increases

Though numerous council members voiced complaints about particular stations, the bigger concerns were related to the coming fare increases and the budget.

Eight to 10 percent increases in ticket prices are slated for January 2013 and January 2015, respectively. The state mandates the raises. Vacca wants the money garnered to restore some of the cut services, while MTA officials said it will go into the general operating fund, for areas such as fuel and pensions.

Vacca also complained about the recent delay over East Side Access, one of the MTA’s mega-projects that’s slated to bring the Long Island Rail Road to a new terminal beneath Grand Central.

“Forget the old adage about a day late and a dollar short, this project is now another year late and another billion dollars short,” he said, adding that he wonders where the money will come from. The extra cost is $800 million over previous estimates, according to MTA documents.

Another concern was mounting debt. Money spent to pay off debt will increase from $2.1 billion in the upcoming fiscal year to $2.6 billion by 2015, according to the MTA. Outstanding debt will be $39 billion by 2015, and no funding is in place for the Capital Plan—which calls for new lines and stations, as well as signal upgrades and other improvements—beyond 2014.

In the fiscal year 2013 budget, currently being fine-tuned, the MTA would receive $886 million from the city, which it would spend on things such as paratransit and free or reduced school fares. An extra $497 million is expected to come from the city matching state aid and as reimbursement for the MTA taking over some private bus lines at the city’s request. The city is expected to contribute about 7 percent of the MTA’s budget.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Authorities request a civil court to confiscate a building at 35-37 East Broadway in Manhattan’s Chinatown, due to it being used for illegal gambling operations for about two years. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—On Monday, the NYPD and Department of Homeland Security Investigations filed a civil complaint seeking confiscation of a Chinatown building used for illegal gambling.

They also arrested 11 people allegedly linked to organized Asian crimes, and an additional two people were arrested by the New York Attorney General’s Office for practicing medicine without a license. Around $163,000 worth of gambling proceeds were also confiscated.

The inconspicuous building stands squished between bustling shops at 35-37 E. Broadway in Chinatown. The storefront’s large red Chinese characters read Liang Tai Da Xia, which means the “Building of Peace and Food.” Passersby would never suspect the building is home to an extensive network of illegal gambling activities and dangerous medical practices.

“We know nothing,” said an employee at Lucky U, a small pharmacy next to the building who refused to give her name.

For the past two years, Liang Tai Da Xia has regularly hosted illegal gambling operations. Services included pai gow poker and computer-based slot machine games in nearly half of the building’s suites, according to the civil forfeiture complaint filed in a Manhattan federal court.

In March 2011, officers seized $40,000 in gambling proceeds from two of Liang Tai Da Xia’s rooms.

The following July, investigators found security guards and a “banker” holding cash on behalf of the gambling enterprise, and gambling proceeds of $140,000 were confiscated.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Two teenage boys in police custody are suspected of being involved in a shooting with a BB gun that looked like a rifle on a roof of a Lower East Side building at a public school on May 23. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Two teenagers were taken into custody suspected of shooting a BB gun resembling a rifle at a public school on the Lower East Side, on Wednesday. At least one person was injured in the incident. The teenagers were not students at the school.

“My office window has been shot before,” said Brett Gustafson, principal of Meyer London Public School 2. “The school windows have been shot out five times in the last two months.”

A custodian at the Meyer London Public School 2 was hit and treated briefly by paramedics in an ambulance.

The two suspects, around 15 years old, live on the second floor of a building on Henry Street, adjacent to the Meyer London Public School 2.

The custodian at the Meyer London PS 2 who was shot with a BB gun, waits next to police officers for an ambulance to come and examine him on May 23. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

A student who attends the Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem of America, situated across the street from the alleged shooters, told The Epoch Times that he knew of previous incidents involving boys living at the same location.

He said he wasn’t aware of anyone being seriously injured in the incidents, but he said, “I hope that it stops.”

Exterior view of the Gloversville-Johnstown wastewater treatment facility, near Albany. (Courtesy of ARCADIS)

NEW YORK—A wastewater treatment plant in New York state has become the first in the United States to reach the capability of energy-independence. The plant is almost entirely powered by methane gas derived from its own wastewater and therefore hardly imports energy.

The Gloversville-Johnstown Joint Wastewater Treatment Facility near Albany serves as an economically viable example for solutions to the growing problem of reducing air pollution and improving energy security. Technologies called anaerobic digestion and combined heat and power make it possible for wastewater plants to turn sewage into fuel, and in turn save energy, and even pay for itself.

“Every community that has the environmental liability of a wastewater treatment plant can utilize this liability for its own advantage and turn it into asset,” said Robert Ostapczuk, from ARCADIS, an international engineering consultancy company.

In April, ARCADIS won several design awards for its work on the plant from organizations such as the American Council of Engineering Companies and the American Academy of Environmental Engineers.

The cities of Gloversville and Johnstown in Fulton County have jointly run a mid-sized treatment plant to take care of their sewage and wastewater for four decades.

In the early 1990s, the plant struggled to maintain operations because the volume of incoming waste from nearby factories dropped, while energy, debit service and personnel costs soared.

Methane gas storage tanks. By 2006, the plant produced 40 percent of its own power. (Courtesy of ARCADIS)

These circumstances spurred significant changes at Gloversville-Johnstown. First, the plant initiated big conservation projects at the facility leading to a more efficient use of energy and sizeable cost savings.

More significant was the introduction of an anaerobic digester as well as combined heat and power technologies at the plant.

Anaerobic digestion is a process involving microorganisms that break down organic matter without gaseous oxygen, usually in large tanks. Final products of the digestion process are biogas, a renewable energy resource, mostly made up of methane, water, and carbon dioxide. The biogas is stored and then used as a fuel to generate heat and electricity via a gas-powered engine in a process called combined heat and power.

Gradual upgrades to these technologies at total cost of $11.5 million were followed by an ambitious plan to produce 100 percent of the operating energy on site. Besides the building of a 50,000-cubic-foot biogas holder, equipped with an expanding and contracting “inner lung,” two 350-kilowatt biogas generators replaced smaller ones.

As a result, not only has the ability of the plant to generate biogas from municipal sludge increased, the biogas is also used more efficiently. Instead of treating high strength wastes from local industry in energy intensive aeration systems, the high strength waste is co-digested with the municipal sludge liberating the energy and providing treatment.

While for many years half of the biogas was lost, for the last three months the generators averaged 95–98 percent in power generation, up from 12 percent in the late 1990s. And in 2011, the plant reached its goal of becoming energy independent, as the first of its kind in the United States, though only potentially. Due to the regulatory situation in New York state, the plant is not allowed to sell excess power to the grid through net metering. If it did sell, the energy it gave out would offset the peak times when it has to purchase some power.

Nonetheless, Gloversville-Johnstown is able to “produce 110 percent of its own electricity on site,” said Robert Ostapczuk. As the senior project engineer, Ostapczuk was mainly responsible for the upgrades in the last 12 years.

As a result of these measures, the facility generated 5 million kilowatt hours of electricity in 2011, while saving almost $330,000 on its electricity bill. The costs for purchased electricity were at an all-time low last year, according to the annual report.

Additional revenue comes in from increasingly taking on yogurt and cheese whey, which is basically the waste product leftover after making cheese. Gloversville-Johnstown made almost $450,000 in 2011 just from one big dairy plant.

“There is a growing interest nationally in that configuration at wastewater treatment facilities,” said David Terry, executive director the Association of State Energy Research & Technology Transfer Institutions, who wrote a case study on the plant.

A higher rate of recycled waste puts less stress on the local environment since less sludge is sent to landfills. Plus, it is a local renewable resource with lower carbon emissions. Anaerobic digestion and combined heat and power are considered to be one of the most useful decentralized sources of energy by the United Nations Environmental Program.

“It’s all there. It’s just a matter of having the right person wanting to do it in each community,” said Ostapczuk.

Besides technological upgrades and improvements, “it takes a change of culture … of managing waste water,” said Ostapczuk. “It is just a matter of being willing to take risks and expand what you treat, how you treat it, and run the plant like a business.”

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

A child who attends the Bethel Day Care Center in Brooklyn is the last to leave the classroom on May 22. Funding to the center runs out on June 30 and may not be renewed under changes to the Early Learn program in the city’s new budget. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—The parents of 10,800 children are in jeopardy of losing their subsidized child care as early as the end of June due to a one-two punch of budget shortfalls and a change in how the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) subsidizes child care programs.

“This seems to be a pattern every year, where it is on the council to do extraordinary things to restore what ought to be ACS’s obligation,” City Council member Stephen Levin said during the executive budget hearings at City Hall on Tuesday.

While similar shortfalls have been filled in the past, such deep cuts this year could be exceptionally difficult to fill.

Levin noted the $84 million proposed budget reduction from last year in the ACS budget while other departments had increases in their budgets.

“Why on earth do we decrease the budget so drastically for our youngest children?” asked Levin.

Ronald Richter, commissioner of the New York City ACS, explained 6,500 spots in city-funded centers would lose their funding unless a $71.5 million shortfall is filled.

In addition, 4,300 vouchers, which allow parents to receive subsidized child care at non-city funded centers, would also lose their funding unless an $11.8 million shortfall was filled.

When asked what parents are supposed to do with their children, who no longer have subsidized child care, when they go to work, Richter replied, “We, for families who are losing ACS, are going to work with them to try to answer person by person that question. We will obviously, based on what you are looking at, not have a satisfactory answer for each individual and that is painful.”

An empty classroom at the Bethel Day Care Center in Brooklyn on May 22. Funding to the center runs out on June 30 and may not be renewed under changes to the Early Learn program in the city’s new budget.      (Benjamin  Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Not Just a Number

These cuts in services will affect more than just numbers on a spreadsheet.

“The children are just like a piece of data, just a piece of quantitative stuff. They are not thinking about the qualitative impact,” said Joan Morris, director of Bethel Day Care Center in Brooklyn.

Her center, which has been providing care for the underserved for 40 years, is one of many on the chopping block under ACS’s new Early Learn program.

Morris was one of the 282 centers that submitted proposals for the new Early Learn program—149 were approved. Proposals were judged with the following criteria: 40 percent for approach, 40 percent level for organizational capability, and 20 percent on quantity and quality of successful relevant experience.

Despite the fact that she had not changed her curriculum, which had received funding approval the previous year under the old system, Morris said she scored 75 percent based on the new criteria and was notified she would no longer have funding after June 30.

“Where will I put the children? I have nowhere to put the children,” she said.

She recently received a letter from the ACS claiming the closing date had been moved to Nov. 5, only to receive an email a few days ago saying the letter was erroneous and that June 30 is the correct date.

Morris said parents are holding out hope, but remain in limbo, just like her.

“Summer is coming up. Where are they going to put their kids during this time? Leave them at home? Take them to unlicensed providers?” she said.

Council member Levin pointed out that confusion in closure dates results in a lack of planning. Centers awarded the new contracts under Early Learn are set to take over on Oct. 1 however, the outgoing centers have been told to close by June 30.

“This is actually a logistical nightmare going on right now,” Levin said.

“I am not going to allow for the timing of these processes to essentially be a death sentence for these programs that have all been around for 40 years. They are institutions in the neighborhood,” Levin said, speaking specifically about seven centers in his district, the 33rd District in Brooklyn.

For Morris, it is more than just policies and programs, formalities and funding. When asked what she would tell the department responsible for making budget cuts Morris replied, “I would let him know that children’s life and the life of families transcend the monetary data that they are using to judge and use to dictate the future and the life for these children. They are the future. They are the flame that is going to enlighten our world tomorrow.”

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Winslow Corbett (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Winslow Corbett, 28, Actress, Brooklyn

I would say that I feel like that they are doing a pretty good job. I lived in New York City for about 10 years and my mother lived in New York during the ’60s and ’70s. … I live in a neighborhood now where she would never conceive of living. And not only has crime gone down in my neighborhood in the past 10 years but certainly since the ’70s. But more than just crime, well actually I just moved back to the city from being in Los Angeles for four years and I moved back impart because I feel the sense of community in here is so strong. So if that has to do with cleanliness, yeah I think that is a part of it. I think our parks are so inviting and I love walking everywhere in the city and I feel safe doing it.

Brian Sanders (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Brian Sanders, Sells Mutual Funds, Manhattan

The Hudson (River) has certainly improved. I think Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invested a lot to clean that up. Certainly crime is down a lot so as far as mental health that is very good. However, affordability of living remains a huge problem, which is a burden on people, so that is not healthy. As for pollution, I don’’ think New York ranks in the worst of air pollution yet it is not at the top either. The economy overall is stressful so there are a lot of unhealthy factors at play. The truth is even if you arm yourself with information and you read and ask questions it is still difficult to truly figure it out. Because our public leaders are not truly that accessible, they are out raising money, attending fundraisers, [and] in meetings, they are not really in front of the people so it is very, very difficult to know what is happening.

Jenny En (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Jenny En, 23, NYU Masters in Public Health, Manhattan

That is a good question. I am actually getting my master’s in public health. In terms of cleanliness I guess, trash is kind of controlled; there is recycling in most places. I think in terms of cleanliness out and about and on the train it is not really taken care of. I think a lot of people get sick from each other just being in New York. I think there can be a lot more done about smoking as well. I know we came out with those laws like not having smoking in the park, but that doesn’t mean anything. I mean there are still people smoking all around. I know it is a hard thing to tackle but I don’t think we should have all these laws and not ever have them implemented.

Ernie Hershey (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Ernie Hershey, 32, Online Learning Company, Brooklyn

I would say so. Stuff like the smoking ban, even though I quit smoking about a year ago … I do think it is a good thing even though I personally don’t like it. I think the bike share program will be good. There was something last year about the city lowering or labeling restaurants that use less salt, but I am not sure if that happened and I think it is a bit laughable, but stuff like that shows that they are trying. In general, I do think the city takes care of resources like parks and other things that require or contribute to cleanliness.

Pasad Deev (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Pasad Deev, 26, Software Engineer, New Jersey

Yeah I think it has been at least for the few months I have been here. As far as I know it is pretty good actually, the environment is quite good, and the cleanliness over all in the parks with gardens are really nice.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg poses with Google Inc. CEO Larry Page at Google headquarters in Manhattan on Monday, May 21. (Courtesy of Mayor's Office)

NEW YORK—New York City’s growing tech industry will soon not have to look much further than Chelsea to find top-level talent.

CornellNYC Tech, which won the Applied Sciences NYC campus award in December, will start classes this fall in the Google Inc. buildings, with a focus on nourishing the city’s tech talent and future entrepreneurs.

Google is leasing 22,000 square feet free of charge, for 5.5 years or until Cornell completes their new campus on Roosevelt Island. The partnership shows Google is not only lending a hand to Cornell, but also the tech sector in New York City.

“This kind of synergy is beyond anything we could have imagined. CornellNYC Tech is well on its way to being fully integrated into New York City’s vibrant tech industry, and Google’s support is another huge vote of confidence for that industry,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.

This fall a small group of current graduate students and faculty will migrate from the Ithaca campus to begin the first year of classes at the Google campus. The first batch of new students will enroll in 2013.

The school will be broken into three interdisciplinary hubs—green tech, connective social media, and healthier life, which will incorporate the already strong bio-tech industry in New York City.

“The one missing ingredient has been a pipeline of top-level tech talent, and that is what the tech campus will provide,” said Cornell President David J. Skorton.

Finding local top-level talent to fill the new spots at CornellNYC Tech may take a few years, but it is a task that is getting easier. During his State of the City address in January, the mayor made a commitment to public education that would help breed the next great techies.

This September the new Software Engineering Academy will open its doors in Union Square, which will have a focus on technical education.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

David Burney(L), commissioner of the city's Department of Design + Construction, speaks at Fit City 7: Promoting Physical Activity Through Design on Monday, while Thomas Farley, commissioner of the city's Health Department, looks on. (Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—In an effort to make it easier for New Yorkers to become healthier, the city government and its many agencies are promoting physical activity and health through design.

Parking meters, 17,000 of them, will be converted into bike racks by the Department of Transportation. Stairways in buildings across the city are being made more attractive to residents and visitors. Water fountains in new buildings must have 10-inch faucets so bottles can be refilled.

It’s all in an effort to help reverse the “obesity epidemic,” according to Linda Gibbs, deputy mayor of Health and Human Services. City statistics show that half of adult New Yorkers are overweight (34 percent) or obese (22 percent),” according to the Health Department’s website. The Centers for Disease Control reports that more than one out of five NYC schoolchildren are obese.

“The health benefits of physical activity—people are focusing on it now because of the obesity epidemic—but the health benefits go way beyond obesity prevention,” said Thomas Farley, Health Department commissioner. He checked off a long list of diseases and conditions that fitness helps prevent, including diabetes, heart disease, and breast cancer.

Farley referenced an article published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine in 2005, saying that if everyone added two minutes of stair climbing a day (about six floors) every day, it would power enough calorie burn to flatline weight gain.

Adrian Benepe, commissioner of the city's Department of Parks and Recreation, speaks on Monday at Fit City 7: Promoting Physical Activity Through Design. (Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times)

The three main things for getting New Yorkers healthier is “decreasing bad stuff, increasing good stuff, increasing physical activity,” said Gibbs. By stuff, she meant edibles. Next she joked about the city taking a host of “bad stuff” out of the commissary in Riker’s Island, saying a riot could potentially be at hand.

“The inmates that want their M&M’s, and we say ‘No,’ and ‘Would you like a lovely apple?’” she said, eliciting laughter from the crowd packed into the session during Fit City 7: Promoting Physical Activity Through Design on Monday at the American Institute of Architects’ New York building in Greenwich Village.

“We were more scared of the seniors,” she added, referring to efforts to offer healthier food at senior centers.

A host of city officials joined Gibbs and Farley for the session, explaining their roles in helping shape the city into a place where one can’t help but become healthy.

Besides banning smoking in parks, Adrian Benepe, commissioner of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, lauded safe bike paths as “one of the single biggest contributions to a more livable and fitter city.”

With the help of the Trust for Public Land, school playgrounds have started opening during off-hours and weekends, said Benepe. Replacing grass on playing fields with synthetic turf has increased their durability, while lights stretch the hours people can use the fields.

Edna Wells Handy, Department of Citywide Administrative Services commissioner, said that in the Manhattan Municipal Building some agencies have begun having mobile meetings, or walking and talking, on the newly opened, 30,000-square-foot 17th floor.

A central issue during the presentations and discussion, the Active Design Guidelines, were developed to give architects and urban designers “a manual of strategies for creating healthier buildings, streets, and urban spaces, based on the latest academic research and best practices in the field,” according to city’s Department of Design + Construction website.

“What will happen is those publications will filter into the minds of the designers, slowly but surely, and eventually they’ll have an effect on the codes, where the codes will become more liberal in nature but less stressed about the minimums, and give advice on how to do better,” he said.

Richard A. M. Beaumont, a project manager with SLCE Architects, expressed uncertainty about whether the building codes are helping or hurting. “New York City is one of the strictest cities with building codes,” he said. “You’re constantly going back to the post to make sure you’re complying with it.”

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A subway conductor waits for passengers to board the train. (Daniel Barry/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—A new program announced by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will give up to $2,000 to persons who help police find those who assault MTA workers. Transit Watch, which will be funded by the MTA, has the support of the Transit Workers Union.

Assaults include taking verbal abuse, or getting punched, or spit on. The ongoing problem has prompted multiple proposals from concerned parties. State Sen. Eric Adams last month proposed giving the MTA and Amtrak the option of allowing workers to carry Tasers (stun guns) for personal protection, especially in more isolated parts of the city.

MTA chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota issued a statement after Gov. Cuomo’s announcement on Monday. “An attack on any one of our workers is an attack on all of us, and we share the goal of protecting our employees as they put their lives on the line every day.”

Last year through mid-May, 40 MTA employees were assaulted. This year already, 48 assaults have been reported. The Class D felony of assaulting an MTA employee can result in a sentence of up to seven years in jail.

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The rising cost of taxi medallions. (Courtesy of TLC)

NEW YORK—Taxi fares could soon rise, depending on the outcome of an upcoming meeting and deliberation by the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Because of rising gas prices, inflation, and other costs, the commission is considering a petition by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance for a fare increase. Another petition was made by a group representing fleet owners. It has been six years since the last fare raise.

Last year, the alliance filed the petition for an increase. Taxi drivers often make less than minimum wage, and spend the first eight to nine hours each shift earning enough money to pay the garages where taxis are kept, and multiple other fees, said alliance co-founder Javaid Tariq.

“We want at least 20 to 25 percent [increase], because fuel costs more now,” Tariq said.

The last fare increase, in 2004, brought the base charge up to $2.50 from $2.00, and added 10 cents to the mileage charge, bringing it to 40 cents per fifth of a mile.

“It is reasonable for taxi drivers and fleet owners to put this on the table,” said David Yassky, Taxi and Limousine Commission commissioner and chair via email. ”We will consider their petitions over the next couple of months.”

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Grand Central Station's most well-known icon, the clock (C) atop the main hall information booth. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—Two spaces never offered before to a permanent tenant are up for grabs, the MTA announced Monday.

The transportation authority envisions sit-down restaurants in the two spaces, according to a release. The bigger space, of up to 12,300 square feet, borders 42nd Street and includes the west side of Vanderbilt Hall; while the smaller space, with 4,700 square feet, is above the Grand Central Market.

“Vanderbilt Hall is visually stunning, and a restaurant above the vibrant Grand Central Market promises to have tremendous cachet,” said Nancy Marshall, MTA’s director of Grand Central Terminal development, in the release.

Rents from Grand Central garnered the MTA $27 million in 2011, according to the release. Leasing prices for the two new spaces haven’t been set, as they will hit the open market for bidding. The two restaurants are expected to open in 2013, during a yearlong celebration of the terminal’s opening on Feb. 2, 2013.

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A little after 7 p.m., police went to the intersection of Bay 32nd Street and 86th Street in the Bath Beach neighborhood, after receiving reports of three victims struck with darts. They came upon three

males, a 66-year-old, hit in the stomach and right leg; a 51-year-old, hit in the stomach, and a 40-year-old, hit in the back and right leg.

The three males are recovering in Coney Island Hospital. Police are still investigating the attacks.

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Very early in life, Catherine Abate's father instilled in her the idea that she could accomplish anything. “I think for a father who was born in 1902, he was remarkably astute about a woman’s place,” she said. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Catherine Abate has held many titles in her esteemed career—lawyer, corrections commissioner, state senator, and her current title, CEO of Community Healthcare Network.

Despite her lengthy resume, Abate is grounded about her accomplishments, “Titles only go so far,” she said from her Flatiron office in early May. “You have to earn people’s respect.”

Respect is something Abate has earned throughout her career, evidenced by the floor-to-ceiling accolades lining one corner of her office.

She credits her family for giving her confidence at an early age. Her father always told her she was good enough to accomplish anything—and strictly reminded her to never put on airs or pretend to be superior.

He encouraged Abate to be a doctor, letting her know there were no barriers for her. “I think for a father who was born in 1902, he was remarkably astute about a woman’s place,” she said. “It was really nice to grow up in an Italian-American family at that time, where your parents believed you could do anything.”

Abate’s parents also never taught her fear, something she considers very fortunate, “So many able people I meet who are smart—much more capable than I am—could achieve so much more, but they are possessed by their fear.”

Titles only go so far. You have to earn people’s respect.

—Catherine Abate

No matter her role, Abate has always strived to be the voice for those in need, something she practiced from a young age. “I think as a child you have a certain lens, and sometimes you see inequities,” she said. “I think it was just in my nature to right wrongs and stand up for people who no one ever stood up for.”

Attending college at Vassar in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., during the volatile 1960s stirred up her passion for activism. Vassar was a women’s college for all but the last year she attended. “Vassar, I think, really in many ways changed who I was because I was surrounded by very intelligent, progressive, thinking women,” she said. “They took their role as women in society and how they could help other women and advance the cause of women very seriously,” she said.

Working in a Man’s World

While Abate said she has enjoyed all the career paths she has traveled, especially her current position, she has a fondness for her time working in corrections. She loved not only the complexity of the job which she described as “running a city within a city,” but the challenges. She was named New York City Corrections Commissioner in 1992, and despite her background in criminal justice and probations, corrections was a different environment—one in which she had little experience.

Corrections was still very much a man’s world and Abate had an uphill battle from the start. “You could see I had two strikes—I wasn’t an insider and I was a woman,” she said.

To help prepare her for new role, she leaned on the outgoing Corrections Commissioner for advice. “I think part of good leadership is also being prepared. Confidence comes from past success, but also doing your homework and being prepared and knowledgeable about what you are facing,” she said.

The former commissioner told her of a previous strike on Rikers Island by the corrections officers who, unhappy about their labor contract, took over the bridge from Rikers Island. The strike dragged on for several days with medical, health, and public safety issues.

“I knew from the first day that I was at Corrections, that if this ever happens to me, I have to make sure that it’s handled and it doesn’t drift where the problem languishes for days and everyone is put at risk,” she said.

Abate was given her chance.

In September 1993, corrections officers, angry about working without a contract for three years, blocked the bridge to get on Rikers Island in protest. Abate rushed in straight from the U.S. Open where she had been watching the men’s finals between Pete Sampras and Cédric Pioline.

She drove right to the foot of the bridge where a small army of officers were waiting, slowly opened her trunk, and pulled out her corrections jacket. The officers told her she should leave, saying they did not want her to get hurt. “I said, ‘You are right. I don’t want to get hurt and I won’t,’ and I just locked the car and walked over the bridge,” she recalled.

After setting up a command post, word came in late at night that the officers were ready to negotiate. In an unprecedented move, Abate requested to do the negotiations. She felt having a woman talk with the leaders would be the best way to defuse the situation. “You can’t bully a bully, particularly in a situation when they think they have the high ground and they can make some demands that you are not willing to give,” she said.

She spoke face to face with several leaders, using only her instinct to guide her. “I knew based on the prior experience: whatever I gave away today, if it didn’t get resolved in seven days, it would be so much more. And the pain and suffering and the impact would be so much greater,” she said.

She spoke candidly with the leaders, promising they would not lose their jobs, but would be docked pay. She told them she needed them back to work by dawn. As a condition, the officers requested Police Commissioner Ray Kelly move his men away, something Kelly was not eager to do, since it would mean losing ground.

She made the officers promise to go back to work if Kelly and his men would move away from the bridge. “I remember actually eye-to-eye getting a commitment. I know it’s kind of a silly thing, but I wanted to have one-on-one contact with those men and the commitments that they were going to make to me individually,” she said.

She ordered Kelly to move back—something she joked had not ever been done before or since.

She said, “I remember being warned, if you do this, and you’re not successful, you’re going to lose your job. I said, ‘I know, but I know what I have to do.’”

Kelly moved his men back and the officers resumed work before dawn. “It was one of those moments you just assess what your role is and do what you have to do and carry it out.”

Life-Long Advocate

While she has not defused such volatile situations like the bridge strike during her role as CEO at Community Healthcare Network, her current job has also provided many challenges.

She said unlike a government agency, which can rely on government to fall back on in a disaster, there is no one to protect her at the non-profit. “You’re really on your own. You have to be creative,” she said. “You can just be stagnant and just be satisfied with what you’ve accomplished yesterday or really have a vision and move an agency forward. This has been extraordinarily challenging.”

Not too bad for a self-described “product of the ’60s.”

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Andrea Beaman, a natural foods chef featured on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” won the cooking competition on Saturday at The Great GoogaMooga Festival in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, with sous-chef Pablo. (Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK— The crowd waits for Andrea Beaman, a natural foods chef featured on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” to begin the 20-minute cooking competition at The Great GoogaMooga Festival in Prospect Park on Saturday.

Beaman waves a bloody glove and says her sous-chef might have to take her place. She just sliced two fingers as she was racing the clock with an unfamiliar knife.

She decides to keep going. “That’s the way chefs roll, I still have 8 more fingers,” Beaman joked.

The Just Food cooking competition consists of 10 types of vegetables, oil, seasoning, and 20 minutes to cook everything.

The competition is inspired by the community-supported agriculture group CSA. The group supports a model of food delivery whereby local farmers bring freshly harvested produce boxes to selected recipients every week, for six months out of the year. Consumers are challenged to use up all of the healthy food in the boxes they receive before the next delivery.

Just Food is a nonprofit organization that aligns local farmers, food producers, and CSA organizers with the community.

Since 1995, Just Food has pioneered and helped the growth of sustainable food programs, such as CSAs, community-run farmers’ markets, and farm-to-food pantry programs.

Cathy Erway, author of “The Art of Eating In,” went against Andrea Beaman on Saturday in a cooking competition at The Great GoogaMooga Festival in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. (Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times)

Beaman competed against Cathy Erway, author of “The Art of Eating In,” and the popular food blog “Not Eating Out In New York.”

All the two chefs had to work with were 10 vegetables from a CSA box, and a lot of creativity.

Erway made “quick pickled radishes.”

“Most people think you need a long time to make pickle things. But the secret is if you cut things thin enough, it doesn’t take long at all,” said Josh, Erway’s sous-chef. “You can pickle anything if it’s thin enough.”

The competition encourages everyday cooks to save both food and time.

“This actually sounds really good,” whispers an audience member.

The contestants scurry to add finishing touches to their quick, delicious meals when an egg drops beside Erway.

The competition was one of many activities happening at the GoogaMooga Festival.

On May 19 and 20 Prospect Park held 75 food vendors, 35 brewers, 30 winemakers, and 20 live music performances. Notable performances included The Roots, Hall and Oates and Holy Gost! Food from Mother-in-law’s Kimchi and Saxelby Cheesmonger were also featured.

“The waits are a little long, but that’s to be expected,” said Brian Jones, an attendee of the festival.

“It’s nice to try out a lot of different food in one place,” he said.

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A marching band from the program Education Through Music. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Groups of instrument-playing schoolchildren, armed forces, and others marched on Sunday down the tree-lined Mosholu Parkway in the Bronx. The parade was a celebration of Bronx culture and history.

“We’re here to celebrate what makes the Bronx so beautiful—the culture,” said Judy Friedman, vice principal of PS 48. In front of her, a gaggle of students clothed in purple played instruments, a miniversion of a marching band.

“Besides academics, you get to bring the fun spirit into it also,” said Friedman, adding that the band stems out of a first-year program made possible by Education Through Music. “It brings them to instruments that otherwise they wouldn’t be able to get—they love it.”

Delighted parents and other onlookers clapped and cheered for school marching bands and other groups as they moved by.

Kelvin Gomez and Sarielis Bermaber both moved to the United States three years ago from the Dominican Republic. They held their home country’s flag between them as part of a group of students representing New World High School.

The school focuses on immigrants by “infusing English as a second language into all content areas of instruction,” according to its website. Bermaber, an 18-year-old senior, said that by her estimate, 50 different cultures are represented in the school.

“Even though we’re really different, we get along,” she said. “We want to represent that [today].”

Sadibou Sylla, a 28-year-old math teacher, hails from Senegal. He walked with a group of men who won the African Advisory Council Bronx Week Soccer Tournament. “We’re the best in all of New York,” he said, smiling. They were expecting to receive their award later in the day.

“There’s a lot of different culture in the Bronx,” Sylla said. “We’re representing the African culture.”

On a parallel street, vendors displayed their wares, and food. At one tent, a family sold Western Caribbean eats; a smorgasbord of meats, including curried chicken and beef, jerk chicken, and roast pork; with cupcakes, and other goodies for dessert from one woman who owns her own bakery. “Her specialty is red velvet,” said her sister.

An Ecuadorian family nearby served ethnic fare. The daughter ladled cold drinks—tamarindo, pina, limonada, and ensalade de fratas, a red Kool-Aid-like drink with fruit chunks—out of large containers, attracting a steady stream of customers. One booth served coconuts with straws, ready for slurping.

“It’s great, great for the neighborhood,” he said. “The whole neighborhood is out here.”

The parade capped off the 10-day 2012 Bronx Week. Events included a centenarian celebration, where Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., commemorated senior Bronx residents who are or will turn 100 this year; a film festival featuring films made in the Bronx or by Bronx filmmakers; and an induction of four persons, including model and actor Tyson Beckford, into the Bronx Hall of Fame.

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Linda Graffagnino is escorted by a New York firefighter after the funeral of her husband, Joseph Graffagnino, on August 23, 2007 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Joseph Graffagnino, 33, was killed along with another firefighter battling a blaze at the abandoned Deutsche Bank building next to Ground Zero on August 18. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—The widow of a deceased firefighter will receive a $10 million settlement due to lax procedures by the contractor, subcontractor, and city and state agencies in a fire five years ago that caused the death of two firefighters.

The firefighters became trapped and succumbed from severe smoke inhalation while fighting a seven-alarm high-rise fire at the former Deutsche Bank building, 130 Liberty St.

Joseph Graffagino, 33, left behind a wife and two children. His wife, Linda, won $9 million compensation from Bovis Lend Lease, and an additional $1 million from the city, according to the New York Daily News.

An investigation found that a cut water pipe had prevented water from reaching the fire that day. It also said the FDNY failed to inspect the building regularly as required by law.

Robert Beddia, 53, also perished in the fire. Beddia’s family settled two years ago for $6 million.

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The Brooklyn Navy Yard is seen December 8, 2010 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—A new manufacturing center will be built in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, creating almost 300 permanent jobs and about 400 temporary construction jobs.

“The Green Manufacturing Center at the Brooklyn Navy Yard—with its lead tenants Crye Precision and Macro Sea—will show the world how to successfully incorporate green manufacturing and sustainable practices into a state-of-the-art facility that will create hundreds of permanent and construction jobs,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz on Friday, according to a press release.

Crye Precision designs and manufactures body armor and apparel for U.S. armed forces. It received $1 million in funding to expand its current operations at the Navy Yard.

Macro Sea, a real estate developer, will lease more than 50,000 square feet for a new facility called New Lab. The space will promote innovative design and incorporate universities and businesses in a collaborative workspace.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation will invest a total of $46 million in the Green Manufacturing Center, which will reuse “three former WWII-era Navy machine shops” after upgrading them, according to a release.

A newly opened exhibition at the visitors and employment center at BLDG 92 highlights the area’s rich history, as well as its present and future projects.

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Opponents of the New York Police Department’s controversial 'stop-and-frisk' policy rally on January 27, in the Bronx borough of New York City. The NYPD says the stops assist crime prevention while opponents say they involve racial profiling and civil rights abuses. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—The next move in the hotly contested stop-and-frisk debate came on Thursday as a letter from NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly detailing upcoming changes to policy became public.

In the letter, addressed to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Kelly outlined a number of changes made or in the works for stop and frisk, a technique that has increasingly drawn ire from a host of politicians and community groups.

Besides republishing an order that “specifically prohibits racial profiling,” the executive officer of each precinct will review stop-and-frisk data every week. Training, often mentioned in the letter, includes 1,500 officers being taught a new course “that provides personnel with an additional level of clarity in determining when and how to conduct a lawful stop.”

Other officers will take the course in the future. It includes learning how to use informational cards that provide a written description of the legal authority for such stops and a list of common reasons individuals are stopped by the police.

The fifth part of a series of training videos about “street encounters,” began filming on Thursday, Kelly wrote, and added that the NYPD has been expanding community outreach.

On Wednesday, a district judge granted class-action status to a 2008 lawsuit accusing the NYPD of racial profiling in stop and frisk, allowing anyone unlawfully stopped and frisked since January 2005 to be plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The city’s law office may appeal.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio called on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to issue an executive order to reduce the number of stops.

Speaker Quinn on Thursday tweeted that “Commissioner Kelly & NYPD have taken an important step forward with #stopfrisk, however, more must be done to bridge divide with community.”

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Shredded documents. The shredding of documents containing personalized information is an effective way to prevent identity theft. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—This Sunday residents are invited to join the annual Shred Fest and protect their identities. Organized by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), people will be able to access free shredding services to get rid of documents with personally sensitive information at 14 locations throughout New York City. As an incentive, the first four people who show up at each site will win a free paper shredder.

A common method used by identity thieves is to scavenge household waste for bills and other documents containing personal information. Hence, “Shredding is one important way to protect your identity,” says the DCA.

Citizens are encouraged to bring old bank statements, old pay stubs, credit card applications, and all other papers with personalized information that are not needed anymore and do not contain tax-related information.

More information on identity theft and how to prevent it is available on the DCA’s website.

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Half of Metro New York small-business owners feel assured that the local economy will improve in the course of a year, whereas only 41 percent think the same of the national economy, according to the Bank of America Small Business Owner Report released on Thursday.

“Despite economic hurdles, Metro New York small-business owners have plans to continue hiring and expanding, which is why it’s critical that the private and public sector continue to find ways to support local small businesses,” said Jeff Barker, New York City market president for Bank of America.

“Small business owners are making huge personal sacrifices to spur job creation and contribute to the growth of our city’s economy,” Barker said.

The report found that Metro New York small business owners tend to put themselves last on a list of priorities. Fifty-three percent said that they sacrifice “time for themselves” for their businesses.

According to the report, 44 percent of Metro New York small-business owners feel that running a business is three times as stressful as raising children.

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New York City Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott addresses the ABNY breakfast on Thursday morning in Midtown Manhattan, proposing two policy changes to improve the quality of teachers in New York City Public Schools. (Photo courtesy of the Mayor's Office/Edward Reed)

NEW YORK—New York City Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott served up two new educational reforms at the Association for a Better New York breakfast in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday, including buyouts of nonpermanent teachers and a policy to remove poorly performing teachers after two years.

Walcott said the changes would help improve teacher quality in New York City Public Schools, setting off yet another round of tense back-and-forth between the DOE and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).

New York City Council member Dan Garodnick said to Walcott during the questions and answer portion of the meeting, “I think that we all, and certainly the students, are counting on the DOE and UFT to find those ways that you can work together and that we hope you will do that.”

Absent Teacher Reserve Buyouts

Walcott proposed to offer buyouts to teachers who are in the absent teacher reserve (ATR) for a year without being offered a permanent position. The ATR pool currently has 831 teachers. Only 31 percent in the pool have been taken out of the classroom for disciplinary reasons.

The city continues to pay the salaries of those teachers. The average salary for a current individual in the ATR pool is $82,420 and almost $84,000 for those who have been in the pool for over a year, according to the DOE.

Walcott said the proposed buyout “would reduce a significant burden on our budget, allowing us to divert millions of dollars back to schools.”

The UFT countered, saying the ATR pool actually saves the city because those teachers are allocated for substitute jobs, meaning the city does not have to hire substitutes. The DOE acknowledged a savings of $30 million last year by using teachers from the ATR pool for substitutes.

Numbers aside, a clause introduced in 2007 offered a buyout to teachers after a year without full time positions, yet after five years, neither the UFT nor the DOE have managed to agree on the details. Both sides continue to point fingers at each other as reasons for no deal, but promised to resume negotiations next week.

New Teacher Evaluations

In February, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new teacher evaluation system, but as students prepare for their summer break, the new four-tier evaluation system is still not in the classrooms, despite ongoing negotiations.

Gov. Cuomo has given a Jan. 16, 2013, deadline for the new system to be agreed upon to prevent the school system from losing federal grant money.

“If the new evaluation system isn’t in place by the beginning of next school year, I will implement a new policy,” Walcott announced Thursday morning, explaining the policy would remove any teacher from the classroom with poor performance marks two years in a row.

This system is actually already currently in place, but under the discretion of the principal, who has an option to give a teacher a third year to improve. Walcott’s proposal would simply make the two years the standard.

Whether it is two or three years, how these performance marks will be graded still remains the point of contention, but Walcott appears set to make the policy change with or without a new evaluation system in place.

“If we don’t get to that [new] system by next fall, we are just going to use the one we have to go after teachers who have been rated U two years in a row,” a spokesperson with the DOE said on Monday afternoon. U stands for unsatisfactory.

“Everybody probably knows that the best way to accomplish important reforms are to do it collaboratively and that is what I am encouraging,” Council member Garodnick said Thursday evening. “You have people on both sides who feel very strongly in their advocacy for kids in the system and for the student’s sake they need to find ways to work together.”

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A woman fills out an employment form at a job fair in Midtown Manhattan on April 18. (Amal Chen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—The private sector in New York state has fully regained all of the jobs it lost during the last recession, being among only five states who have done so, labor statistics released by the New York State Labor Department on Thursday showed.

In total, the private sector has added 335,100 private sector jobs in the state since the beginning of the recovery in November 2009. In April, the private sector employment improved a little with 100 more people employed, bringing it to an all-time high of 7,319,600.

“The statistics show New York grew and continues to grow jobs in the private sector, and we are seeing that growth reflected in the number of job seekers returning to work,” remarked Bohdan Wynnyk, deputy director of the Division of Research and Statistics at the State Labor Department.

However, last month’s change did not affect the private sector unemployment rate, which stood at 8.5 percent in April, slightly higher in comparison to the nation’s figure of 8.1 percent.

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Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp (L) talks on Wednesday with event co-founder David-Michel Davies during Internet Week New York. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Tumblr—that blogging site many don’t really get, or haven’t heard of—is for users that have things to share online and don’t necessarily enjoy writing, giving each user control over media with a personal domain that has its own URL. Each domain is known as a “Tumblr.”

“If you wanted to put something out there that was really you—and not YouTube slash username—if you didn’t want that vanilla white Facebook page, if you wanted your own domain, if you wanted to share any type of media—not just relegated to photos on Flickr or videos on YouTube—you had to use the blogging platforms,” explained David Karp, CEO and founder of Tumblr, referring to when he launched the site in February 2007.

“I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for. It wasn’t intended to gain social media channels; it wasn’t intended to be viral; it wasn’t even intended to be popular. Just intended to be useful,”  David Karp, CEO and founder of Tumblr

“The blogging platforms at the time were geared toward writers, which I wasn’t,” he added. 

During the first two weeks, 75,000 users signed up for Tumblr. 

“The inherently unambitious and sort of selfish beginnings of Tumblr was this was a tool for me—it was never something I expected anybody else to use,” Karp said, addressing a crowd on Wednesday at the Internet Week New York headquarters off Mercer Street. “I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for. It wasn’t intended to gain social media channels; it wasn’t intended to be viral; it wasn’t even intended to be popular. Just intended to be useful.”

Headquartered in New York City and started by Karp, an Upper West Side native, the roots of the multimedia blogging platform are firmly planted in the city.

A plethora of Tumblrs feature the city as the main subject. Humans of New York, a well-known photography Tumblr, has shots of an eclectic mix of city folk. Short blurbs add flavor to the photos.

Brandon Stanton's portrait shot of a Qdoba employee, posted on Humans of New York. (Courtesy of Brandon Stanton)

The following story accompanies a recent photo of an Qdoba employee.

“I made a quick stop at the Bleecker St. Qdoba today, and was served by this friendly man. I told him I was feeling fatigued, so I wanted a lot of vegetables.

“He said: ‘You know, it’s good to eat healthy. But I think so much of our health comes from our mental state. You hear about these old grandmas who drink hard liquor every day of their lives, but still live to be 98. You know why? Because they had less stress back then. I think the health of the body really follows the health of the mind.’

“Pretty profound stuff. But with that being said, I felt much better after eating my vegetable burrito.”

Some say Tumblr gives more exposure than other social media. As a comparison between Tumblr and Facebook, the Tumblr post of the Qdoba interaction was reblogged 426 times, while the Facebook post, although receiving 1,648 likes, was shared only 51 times.

“It’s something that represents part of what Tumblr is—really go in depth, and really explore the things that people are passionate about,” said Karp, referring to pages like Humans of New York. 

“I really admire Tumblr because they put artists front and center,” said Brandon Stanton, of Humans of New York, via email. “They pay a lot of attention to the people who actually create content on their platform.” 

He described frustration at the “inability to contact anyone” at Facebook, and feeling comfortable distributing his work with Tumblr since he’s “spoken with several members of the Tumblr staff about a myriad of issues.”

At 120 million monthly users and growing, Tumblr has attracted the city government, with a main nyc.gov page, the Department of Transportation’s The Daily Pothole, and the city’s open data site that makes information public so users can turn them into creative visuals.

Out of 100 employees at Tumblr, half were lured from other areas, including many from California, said Karp. The company tells potential employees, “Hey, just come hang out in New York for the weekend. New York is a lot cooler than Palo Alto.” 

Groups on Tumblr meeting up in real life has the company’s influence expanding outside the digital world. Meetups in the city this week include at Washington Square Park on Wednesday night, and one on Saturday at MetLife Stadium for the Electric Daisy Carnival on Saturday, and another off 47th Street.

“Getting to make those groups materialize in physical spaces is something I really appreciate,” Karp said.

NEW YORK—The scores of nearly 200 students who took their SAT exams at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights earlier this month have been invalidated.

The students were informed in an email on Tuesday that their tests were not scored, and given a four-day notice for a mandatory retake.

A surprise inspection of the test site found that the students were sitting too close to one another.

“Everybody’s just really angry. The worst part about this there’s nothing you can do. There’s no one you can even make a complaint to or call and people at the college board who you can go to,” said Yoni Rechtman, a Packer student.

Dennis also expressed frustration toward the college board for not alerting the school sooner.

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NEW YORK—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) fined a Bronx housing complex $85,000 this month for not allowing its residents to keep “emotional support animals.”

The complex, The RiverBay Corp, is located in Co-op City. There is a strict no-dog policy in Co-op City, where residents sign a no-pets agreement prior to moving in.

RiverBay states there was no evidence to show the clinically depressed require a support animal. The complex attempted to evict the tenants last year for keeping pets.

But HUD calls emotional support pets a “reasonable accommodation request for the disabled.”

Under the Fair Housing Act, it is illegal to refuse reasonable accommodations for disabled residents.

According to doctors’ notes, two clinically depressed residents were advised to get emotional support dogs.

It was ruled that RiverBay violated the Fair Housing Act when it refused to make an exception to its no-pets policy for clinically depressed residents.

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Steve Kohut of Communities United for Police Reform in February gestures as he recalls being subjected to a stop-and-frisk. (Amal Chen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—New York District Judge Shira Scheindlin granted class-action status to a 2008 lawsuit accusing the New York Police Department of racial profiling with its stop-and-frisk procedures on Wednesday.

The ruling will allow all persons unlawfully stopped and frisked since January 2005 to be plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

“We respectfully disagree with the decision and are reviewing our legal options,” the city law office said in a statement.

Stop-and-frisk is a controversial strategy intended to help the police reduce crime. Officers may stop and search suspicious suspects’ outer garments for concealed weapons.

The court order states that frisk stops have been increasing drastically over the past decade. The NYPD reported 150,000 stops in 1988, which increased to 685,724 stops in 2011.

According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, 84 percent of those stopped were African-Americans or Latinos. Out of those African-Americans and Latinos frisked, police found a need to arrest 12 percent.

Judge Scheindlin stated that “Suspicionless stops should never occur,” and the widespread of practice of it is a “troubling apathy toward New Yorkers’ most fundamental constitutional rights.”

Based on New York’s Labor Law, it is illegal for the NYPD to penalize its officers for failing to meet a summons, arrest, or stop quota.

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Statues of the terracotta warriors buried with Emperor Qin, the first emperor of China, from 210-209 B.C., are on display at the Discovery Museum in Times Square, through Aug. 26. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—The curtain slowly lifts as the last note continues to hum from a video about China’s first emperor in the dark mini-theater of the Discovery Time Square Museum. A life-size, limestone-plated suit of one of the terracotta warriors is revealed.

The audience enters the terracotta exhibition, glimpsing into the mystery of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s afterlife palace. It was not intended for mortal eyes.

The array of artifacts from the emperor’s tomb complex and various tombs of Qin Dynasty noblemen include bronze food steamers, deadly daggers, and a palace drainage pipe. The pipe features intricate designs left from the wrapping used during its manufacture.

“It’s magnificent,” said museum-goer Elaine Barone, from New Jersey, of the exhibit. “It’s amazing how it was discovered not too long ago. There’s so much that’s yet to be discovered.”

Qing Shi Huang Di was famous for his grand, yet baneful feats. He unified China, created the first part of the Great Wall, and buried Confucian scholars alive.

He used art to recreate his palace to take with him after death. His luxurious tomb complex includes 8,000 terracotta warriors, gardens, and swans, along with musicians and acrobats for entertainment.

He was obsessed with immortality, and claimed his empire will rule for 10,000 generations. He might have lived closer to that goal if it weren’t for his obsession with “longevity elixirs” that were often made of mercury. Some believe his longevity medicine was ironically the cause of his death.

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Statues of the terracotta warriors buried with Emperor Qin, the first emperor of China, from 210-209 B.C., are on display at the Discovery Museum in Times Square, through Aug. 26. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

Statues of the terracotta warriors buried with Emperor Qin, the first emperor of China, from 210-209 B.C., are on display at the Discovery Museum in Times Square, through Aug. 26. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

A drainage pipe used at the palace of China's first emperor to to siphon rainwater from 210-209 B.C. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a file photo May 2012 (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GettyImages)

NEW YORK—Housing projects for the homeless across the state of New York will receive additional funding of almost $20 million to help in the creation of more than 160 units, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday.

“All New Yorkers should have access to safe, stable, and adequate housing,” the governor said in a statement. “These new housing units will help break the cycle of chronic homelessness and allow individuals and families here in New York build a foundation for a better future.”

The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance through its Homeless Housing and Assistance Program will provide grants in the sum of $19.6 million in support of five projects in four counties.

The goal of the projects is to build 163 housing units to help families and individuals to move out of homelessness, while paying attention to their special needs, like mental illness or chemical dependency.

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Branch CEO Josh Miller (3rd from L) at the release of a map showing tech companies and available tech positions in the city, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne (2nd from L), Seth Pinksky (2nd from R), and Internet Week New York Chairman David-Michel Davies (L). (Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Tech companies are hiring in New York City, and the whole world should know about it.

That’s the gist behind a new “Made in NY” digital map, which charts the locations of digital companies, investors, and co-working and incubator spaces, and includes updated information about who’s hiring.

“We want to make sure everyone knows about these jobs,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday at the headquarters for Internet Week New York. “Creative people want to be around other creative people.”

On the map, found on the Internet at MappedInNY.com, the greatest concentrations are in or around the Flatiron District, Union Square, NoLita, SoHo, and Little Italy. Almost all are in Manhattan.

“We wanted people who were thinking about becoming a startup entrepreneur, getting into the Internet business, becoming an Internet professional—whether they were engineers who were still in college or people who were living throughout the country—when they were thinking about that, we wanted them to think about New York as a great place to come and pursue that opportunity,” said Internet Week New York Chairman David-Michel Davies.

Katherine Oliver, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, conceived of the map, which uses data from a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future and will be regularly updated.

On the New York Tech Meetup’s local companies’ site, previously the top place to find tech jobs, 148 of 309 tech companies listed are currently hiring. The live feed on the new digital map shows 324 out of more than 500 listed companies are currently hiring. Rachel Sterne, the city’s chief digital officer, said this equals more than 1,000 jobs.

Branch CEO Josh Miller came to the release on Tuesday to tout New York City over San Francisco. The 21-year-old moved his tech company to San Francisco after starting it here last fall. Now, they’re back in New York City once again.

For Miller, the technology community in New York City, including events such as HackNY, the tech meetup, and General Assembly—a campus where people take classes and work close by other entrepreneurs—made moving back easy. After being questioned by a reporter, he admitted to moving to California specifically to be mentored by the Twitter co-founders, however, Miller added, one of them just came to New York with him.

Germany-based digital strategist Sven Laepple attended the map release. Laepple is in the process of developing a global mobile and social media investment business blocks away from 82 Mercer St., where the press conference was held. His partner already has the space, nearby on Broadway.

“For me, as a European, it is certainly the best place to be, because once you’re in California, you break up with all your friends and family and business contacts—the time shift is just too awful,” Laepple said. “I had an uncle doing business there and he had to go to sleep every day at 7:00—so that’s not life. Here from New York you just take a plane and in seven and a half hours you’re in Berlin or London.”

“I’m considering where my next career move will be, and thinking about how New York could be a place to go, and that helps outweigh some of the concern about moving to New York,” he said. “This definitely confirms in my mind that New York has that vibrant startup community.”

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Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair in New York on July 1, 2011. (DON EMMERT/AFP/GettyImages)

NEW YORK—Dominique Strauss-Kahn filed a $1 million lawsuit against Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel housekeeper he allegedly raped a year ago at the New York City Sofitel Hotel. Strauss-Kahn says it was a consensual extra-marital encounter and that Diallo ruined his reputation.

The former French presidential hopeful was arrested last May by New York police, resigning from his position as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) four days after his arrest.

Strauss-Kahn’s recent claim for diplomatic immunity from civil lawsuits was rejected by the Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon on May 1.

Now, Stauss-Kahn has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Diallo for ruining his reputation with false claims.

Strauss-Kahn denies rape and his attorneys say Daillo made “malicious and wanton false accusations” that caused “substantial harm to his professional and personal reputation in the United States and throughout the world,” according to his Bronx court filing.

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Counciliors (L to R) James Vacca, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Brad Lander, Al Vann, and Speaker Quinn on Tuesday. (Courtesy of William Alatriste New York City Council)

NEW YORK—The City Council passed a bill Tuesday that will increase wages for building service employees in the city. The council overrode a veto by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The prevailing wage bill will apply to workers of the building sector in certain city-leased or financially assisted facilities. It will require employers to pay $10 an hour with benefits ($11.50 without benefits) to their workers instead of the current state minimum wage of $7.25. The law will take effect in 180 days and does not apply to past contracts.

“I am proud to join with my colleagues today in reaffirming our commitment to the creation of quality jobs in our city,” Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito said in a statement.

On Tuesday at an Internet Week event Mayor Bloomberg reiterated his opposition and announced that he would challenge the bill in court.

“This is not appropriate legislation if we want companies to come here and build this city,” the mayor said.

Bloomberg said the bill would be a disadvantage to one particular industry and expressed instead his support for an all-sector minimum wage increase.

“I am in favor of increasing the minimum wage, because that applies to everyone and it doesn’t single out one industry, or one location, or one union as a political favor, that’s not what good government should be all about,” he said.

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Murray Fisher (2nd from R) realized early in his life that though he loved nature, he loved people more. Above, with students at New York Harbor School, which he co-founded. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

At age 6 Murray Fisher had eight pet snakes, and by age 12 he could name every species of bird. Growing up on a family farm just west of Richmond, Virginia, most of young Fisher’s time was spent playing outside. Fishing and playing in the lakes and rivers was routine, and exploration was constant.

For the co-founder of New York Harbor School, nature has always been a passion.

“I knew from an early age that I wanted my life’s work to be about studying and preserving nature,” Fisher said from a pier on Governor’s Island at the end of April. “I felt as though that meant I had to go into a career related to that stuff, so that is why I ended up going into college and majoring in biology.”

Fisher was an A-student in high school, but as a biology major at Vanderbilt University in Nashville in the early 1990s, he struggled. “Everyone else was pre-med. They were all working harder than me, and they were all spending more time studying,” he said.

For a guy who had felt a sincere calling to nature all his life, he began to question if he had chosen the right career path. Fisher decided to take a year off to refocus.

I realized I loved nature, I loved wildlife, and I loved the environment, but I loved people more.

—Murray Fisher

The eight-month internship took him around Peru and Bolivia. “I would just live in a tent and travel around the area with a machete and binoculars,” Fisher recalled.

Outside of a few local contacts, Fisher was alone for most of the eight months. The secluded journey proved transformative.

“Well, it told me I didn’t want to be a biologist,” Fisher said with a laugh, adding in a more serious tone, “It was really interesting. I realized I loved nature, I loved wildlife, and I loved the environment, but I loved people more.”

Fisher knew successful biologists, like Munn, had to be obsessed with the subject they studied, but he couldn’t fathom spending years in the jungle studying wildlife.

“I didn’t need to study the parrots to know that I wanted to stop the logging in that area,” Fisher said. “I wanted to be more involved in the policy and the wider scale conservation effort.”

With his new personal insight, he headed back to Nashville to finish studying; keeping the biology major, but having a clearer idea of how to utilize it.

I would just live in a tent and travel around the area with a machete and binoculars.

—Murray Fisher

Fisher then wrote a letter to Kennedy, telling him it was the first time anyone had articulated his environmental ethics and said he would be coming up on his spring break to work with him.

Kennedy honored his request, letting Fisher stay with him over the break. “It was definitely inspiring in terms of commitment to a cause and work ethic,” Fisher said of his stay. “He was always working on protecting the world’s water resources, all the time, as hard as he could, as fast as he could. I had never been around someone who is so hard working for something they care about. For me, it was good insight.”

Impressed with Fisher’s like-minded passion, Kennedy awarded him a year-long internship with the environmental non-profit Riverkeepers in fall 1998 where he helped monitor the Hudson River.

On a monitoring trip 60 miles up the Hudson, in chest-deep water with a 100-foot seine net, Fisher was reeling in fish, documenting what was in the waters. It was there he realized this in-water experience was something he missed in his high school education. “I remember being like, ‘there should be a school that does this kind of work,’” Fisher said.

A seed was planted.

New York Harbor School

Today, you can still find Fisher harbor-side in New York City. He found a career that marries his love of nature conservation with his love for people. He spends his work days on Governor’s Island helping to give the next generation in-water experiences at New York Harbor School, a school he helped found.

The school is a public high school, but with an emphasis on maritime education. The curriculum includes an oyster restoration project that allows the students to actively take part in restoring the New York Harbor.

The doors opened in the fall of 2003 in landlocked Bushwick, Brooklyn. It was not an ideal location, but a start he could build on.

Fisher had Bobby Kennedy Jr. come out to speak on the first day of school—none of the students knew who he was.

“I realized how far the gap was between where our kids were and where I wanted them to go during that speech,” Fisher said. “I was thinking to myself how much work we have to do to bring these two worlds closer together.”

Personal Connections

The first year, there were only 125 students at Harbor School, and Fisher became close with all of them. He knew their names, their background, and was truly invested in their lives.

In fall 2010 the school moved to Governor’s Island, a dream location for Fisher. It was a significant accomplishment, but he worried he would not have the opportunity to have the same personal connections with his students as he did in the early years.

“I saw her in the classroom and felt total joy,” Fisher said. “I gave her a huge hug and told her how proud I was.”

“That moment reminded me really clearly that those relationships with young people are really important to me and that it is kind of the soul food that keeps it going.”

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The jury deliberated further on Monday, but could not reach a decision on four other counts against Espada, NY1 reported. He faced additional counts of conspiracy, fraud, and theft.

Espada and his son Pedro G. Espada were accused of stealing around $500,000 from their nonprofit Soundview Health Care Clinic in the Bronx. The money was used to fuel the Espadas’ lavish lifestyle, including home renovations, birthday party catering, and tutoring.

The jury was hung on all charges against Pedro G. Espada.

Federal District Judge Frederic Block told the prosecutors they have two weeks to seek a partial retrial for Espada and his son on the unresolved counts, WNYC reported.

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The Memorial Day weekend kicks off the season with a favorite nearby getaway for New Yorkers, the free Governors Island Alliance Family Festival, on May 26 from noon to 4:00 p.m. It features family fun, such as music, dance, and face painting.

A “5 Boro PicNYC” will take place on May 26–27, featuring chefs from all five boroughs. Tickets are required.

An exhibit in Building 110 through Sept. 30 shows visitors details of current construction on the island.

Biking is a popular activity on the island—one may rent a bike on site, or bring a bike over on one of the free ferries, which depart from Brooklyn (Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park) and Manhattan (Battery Maritime Building next to the Staten Island Ferry). Seven miles of bike paths crisscross the island.

In June, a day of outdoor badminton (June 23), an “Army Heritage Day” with a 200-year celebration at the newly re-opened Castle Williams (June 23), and a weekend of live jazz that “brings you back in time to the 1920s” (June 16–17) are part of the offerings on schedule, according to the Trust for Governors Island website.

Evolution of the Island

Governors Island has evolved over the years. Originally, the Native Americans in the region called it Pagganck, or “Nut Island,” for the “island’s plentiful hickory, oak, and chestnut trees,” according to the Trust’s website. Many Native Americans utilized it as a fishing camp. Holland bought the island for the price of “two ax heads, a string of beads, and a handful of nails,” explains the website. Over the centuries, it was often used by different militias.

In 1912, the Army Corps of Engineers added 103 acres of land to the island using rocks and dirt from the excavations for the Lexington Avenue Subway, according to the Trust’s website. In October 2010, the New York Harbor School opened. Students cultivate oysters in the surrounding waters and construct boats, among other activities.

According to Architects Newspaper, the Landmarks Preservation Commission in February approved $300 million for the first phase of capital construction plans to improve the island. Plans include “a potable water connection from Brooklyn,” a “Welcome Wall” at the entrance of Soissons Landing, and an 11-acre “Play Lawn.”

The Coast Guard took over the island in 1966, using it as both a residential community—with about 3,500 residents—and a base for the area. Years after the Coast Guard left the island, in January 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg transferred 150 acres of the island to the public. The other 22 acres are managed by the National Park Service.

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