Source: mikey k via flickr
The recent murder in Midwood took another strange turn when it was revealed that a 911 dispatcher badly bungled a tip delivered by the alleged murderer’s psychiatrist. The New York Post is reporting that not only did the dispatcher pass along bad information to the NYPD but was caught laughing on tape during her report.
The case, which centers around 62-year-old Ronald Friedfertig, officially began when neighbors reported a foul stench coming from Friedfertig’s apartment located at 1315 Avenue N. On June 4, police found the decomposing body of Yevonnee Gefner, Friedfertig’s girlfriend, with a note attached claiming “I killed my wife she’s putting spells on me.” Friedfertig was subsequently found at Kings County Hosiptal suffering from a broken neck and arm after a failed suicide attempt where he leaped in front of an oncoming Q train at the Avenue M station.
Gefner’s body could have been discovered four days earlier on May 30 when Friedfertig’s psychiatrist, Noam Koenigsberg, called 911. Koenigsberg reported that Friedfertig, who suffers from mental illness, told his brother that he dreamed that he stabbed his girlfriend, but wasn’t sure if it really happened or not. The psychiatrist also noted that Gefner hadn’t been heard from in some time.
After taking the report, the initial dispatcher, who accurately recorded and logged all the information, passed the report on to a different dispatcher. This second dispatcher was caught on tape laughing and failed to tell the NYPD that the call came from Friedfertig’s psychiatrist and that nobody had been able to contact Gefner. As a result officers simply knocked on the house and left when no one answered.
The NYPD is now investigating the matter internally.
The glorious, old Penn Station, before it was demolished to make room for the hideous monstrosity we know today. Source: Wikipedia
THE COMMUTE: Much of what I was taught in school was either useless or not true. I spent several years studying algebra, which I actually liked, but only had occasion to use it about six times in the 46 years since I graduated high school. Meanwhile, no one ever taught me stuff I need to know in life, such as how to pick a fresh mango. The fruit lady near where I used to work would reject a half a dozen mangoes before choosing the perfect one for me. I should have asked her for her secret.
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Source: rcpromike/Flickr
A little subway service switcheroo on the B and Q lines, with the B running local for a stretch, and the Q running express for a stretch. And, of course, it’s all mixed up in both directions to make sure it’s extra confusing. The F, meanwhile, is, well, still the F. Here are this week’s subway service advisories.
B LINE
From 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday to Friday, Manhattan–bound B trains run local from Kings Highway to Prospect Park. At the same time, Brighton Beach–bound B trains run local from Kings Highway to Brighton Beach.
Q LINE
Meanwhile, the Q is doing the opposite of the B. From 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday to Friday, Coney Island–bound Q trains run express from Prospect Park to Kings Highway, and Manhattan-bound trains run express from Sheepshead Bay Road to Kings Highway.
F LINE
From 11:45 p.m. to 5 a.m., Monday to Friday, Queens–bound F trains run express from W 4 St to 34 St–Herald Sq.
From 11:45 p.m. to 5 a.m., Monday to Friday, Coney Island–bound F trains are rerouted via the A from W 4 St to Jay St–MetroTech.
There are four posts on Sheepshead Bites that reference Will Smith in some way. This is the fifth. This was obviously shot while the former Fresh Prince was filming MiBIII in Coney Island.
Photo by Karen Hill
Photo by Nukri Palagashvili
Source: mjtmail (tiggy)/Flickr
Bro, there’s, like, totally nothin’ to worry about this weekend, man. No Q train advisories, and even the F is running without any changes in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Too bad the weather sucks and you won’t want to go anywhere.
Anyway, here’s the one little, itsy-bitsy advisory:
F TRAIN
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday, Jamaica-bound F trains run local from Roosevelt Av to 71 Av.
Cool story, bro.
From the offices of Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz:
A Sheepshead Bay home after Sandy.
Ten bills will be introduced in the New York City Council this month addressing storm preparedness in response to concerns about the city’s handling of Superstorm Sandy.
The bills are largely designed to improve response for vulnerable New Yorkers whose needs, proponents say, were poorly addressed in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Other bills target improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure when the subway lines are knocked out by natural forces.
The bills are being pushed by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a mayoral hopeful who largely controls the legislative body’s agenda.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Under draft legislation, the council would create a task force to make sure every vulnerable or homebound New Yorker is personally visited after a storm. Ms. Quinn and members of council also said they believed the city should keep a database of such New Yorkers, a move the city has opposed on grounds of privacy and because officials have expressed concern about keeping such a list up-to-date.
Ms. Quinn said the city should develop a plan to track the location and medical needs of all individuals taken to special needs shelters. Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced this week the state had a tracking system in place for the 2013 hurricane season—called NYS e-FINDS.
Additionally, Ms. Quinn also wants a plan to detail roles of the public, private and nonprofit sectors engaged in the distribution of food and water. She has said the distribution was uncoordinated after Sandy—which struck the region on Oct. 29— leaving some shelters without food for residents who had physical or mental disabilities.
The legislation supported by Ms. Quinn also would address the city’s transportation system. The city would be forced to install backup power for streetlights and traffic signals, expand its bus and ferry services using either public or private entities and allow livery drivers to accept passengers who hail them from the street. Her plans would also include the option of closing some streets to all vehicles other than buses or emergency crews.
She added the city should write a fuel-management plan that would guarantee first responders priority for available gas.
The proposals are currently unfunded, and the price tag is unknown, the paper notes.
Click to enlarge
CompStat reports are produced by the New York Police Department on a weekly basis. We summarize the week’s statistics for the 61st Precinct reports every Friday. The 61st Precinct is the police command responsible for Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Kings Highway, Homecrest, Madison, Manhattan Beach, and Gerritsen Beach.
Source: Blue387 via Wikimedia Commons
The fight to bring back the old lever voting machines has picked up significant momentum since Mayor Michael Bloomberg backed the measure in May. Politicians like Bloomberg and State Senator Marty Golden want to bring back the old machines for the upcoming mayoral race due to fears that the $60 million worth of new digital voting equipment – loathed by most voters, and the source of recount bungling by Board of Election officials – cannot be reprogrammed in time to account for a potential runoff.
The Assembly introduced a bill to reintroduce the old lever voting machines for this year’s elections, but the bill has key difference from the Senate version which has already passed. The New York Daily News is reporting that the Assembly’s bill limits the use of old lever voting machines to this year’s primary and possibly runoff elections, whereas the Senate bill allows the machine to be used for any non-federal election.
The Board of Elections is prepared to employ 5,700 of the 6,000 lever voting machines they have in storage, which they consider enough to cover the event of a potential runoff in the upcoming mayoral election. An automatic runoff happens when no candidate receives the required 40 percent needed to win the primary before the general election.
Still, there are those in the Board of Elections (BOE) that believe that returning to the older machines would be a mistake and that the new machines could be ready in time for the mayor’s race. The Board has come up with a plan to have the new digital voting machines ready for a runoff, but if the state votes for an exemption they can overrule the BOE, forcing them to roll out the older machines.
