A blurry image of #Weiner saying goodbye with his middle finger as he drives off from HQ tonight. cc: @BuzzFeedAndrew pic.twitter.com/8fKnA5yLLz — Kate Rose (@KateRoseMe) September 11, 2013
Category: New York
A man has died after being knocked to the ground with a single punch by a stranger in a New York City square.
Jeffrey Babbitt, 62, had been left brain damaged after being punched in Union Square last week in an apparent racist attack.
Mr Babbitt died after allegedly being hit by Lashawn Marten, a 31-year-old African American, who reportedly said that he wanted to attack the next white person who walked by.
The 62-year-old, the sole carer of his 92-year-old mother Hedda, was hit so hard that he fell to the ground but later managed to stand. His condition deteriorated soon afterwards and he died at Bellevue Hospital.
Marten, who has a previous criminal record and uses various aliases, was charged with assault and is due in a Manhattan court on Tuesday. It is likely his charges will now be upgraded.
According to one female witness last week, Marten said: ‘The next white person who walks by I’m going to f***’.
She added: ‘His fist went in and the man’s head bobbed and he hit the ground and you could hear his skull hitting the ground.’
After his racist rant and attack, witnesses said Marten stayed at the park and waited for police to arrive.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Marten’s alleged comments about targeting white people before allegedly punching Mr Babbitt could lead to hate crime charges being made against him.
‘Our Hate Crimes Task Force is involved in aspects of that case,’ he added.
Marten is being held on a $1 million bond as police decide whether to also charge him with a hate crime.
The first full day of a dream vacation turned into midtown mayhem for a British tourist Tuesday when a cabbie who had been arguing with a bicyclist lost control of the taxi and mowed her down on a sidewalk — severing her left foot.
Siân Green, 23, arrived in New York Monday night with one of her best friends for a trip they had anticipated with excitement on Instagram. The next day, they bought hot dogs at Sixth Ave. and 50th St. about 11:20 a.m. in the sun-drenched city. Green and her friend, Keshia Warren, were sitting on the ledge of a fountain in a crowded plaza on the avenue.
They were chowing down on the hot dogs when the yellow cab jumped the curb at 49th St. and plowed into Green, sending her flying and springing several good Samaritans into action. Among the heroes were a food vendor, a plumber and television’s Dr. Oz.
David Justino, a plumber who had been working in the area, stripped off his Carhartt tool belt and used it as a tourniquet. His quick thinking may have saved Green’s life.
“The real hero of the day is plumber Dave, just an average Joe, an average Dave, just walking along the street, but he saved her life,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, whose T-shirt and jeans were spattered with blood. “It’s very smart thinking. A simple thing like a union plumber’s belt can save your life.”
Justino said he was awed by the composure of the victim, calling her “a strong girl, a brave girl.”
“Her left leg was severed off, the other was mangled,” he said. “She was conscious the whole time, the poor thing. I wished she would have passed out.”
Green’s severed, sandal-clad foot was recovered at the scene and doctors at Bellevue Hospital tried in vain to reattach it. At least two other people were also being treated at area hospitals for less serious injuries.
A federal judge has ruled that the NYPD’s infamous stop-and-frisk practice “violated the constitutional rights of tens of thousands of New Yorkers”—but didn’t order the NYPD to end the policy immediately.
Instead, federal judge Shira Scheindlin appointed an outside lawyer, Peter Zimroth, to oversee reforms to the policy that would bring it in line with the constitutional rights Scheindlin found it to violate:
These stop-and-frisk episodes, which soared in number over the last decade as crime continued to decline, demonstrated a widespread disregard for the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, according to the ruling. It also found violations with the 14th Amendment. […]
While the Supreme Court has long recognized the right of police officers to briefly stop and investigate people who are behaving suspiciously, Judge Scheindlin found that the New York police had overstepped that authority. She found that officers were too quick to deem as suspicious behavior that was perfectly innocent, in effect watering down the legal standard required for a stop.
Zimroth, a partner at Arnold & Porter and a former prosecutor with the Manhattan D.A., will monitor the NYPD’s implementation of stop-and-frisk and ensure that it is complying with Scheindlin’s orders
And he’s still on the loose.
Two men were attacked in Harlem by a hammer wielding maniac who was still at large last night, police sources said.
The first victim was hit in the head with a hammer outside of 1370 5th Avenue at around 12:45 a.m. He was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in stable condition, sources said.
A short time later, a second man was hit in the head with a hammer a few blocks away on Lenox Avenue and West 110th Street at around 1:05 a.m. That victim was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital with head trauma, sources added.
The rodent is usually seen in front of business that hire nonunion workers, but when it appeared by Weiner’s crib, we were naturally concerned: Rodents and Weiners don’t go together.
A group of education and union activists inflated the rodent to protest a Weiner proposal to eliminate the parent coordinator position Mayor Bloomberg created in city schools to serve as parent contacts.
The protesters say they’re so determined to block Weiner from City Hall that they’ve launched a “Stop Weiner” campaign to rival a group that’s targeting City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
“If people think Stop Chris Quinn is bad, wait ‘til they get to meet us,” said Mona Davids, who works for the union that represents parent coordinators.
Along with the giant rat, the few dozen protesters at Weiner’s Park Avenue South building carried signs with slogans like “We Don’t Want a Weiner For Mayor” and “Don’t Let The Sexting Perv be Mayor.”
Weiner said he didn’t mind the rat, but he lamented what he sees as the overuse of the iconic protest symbol.
A one man band. He “played his… instrument on the Grand Central subway station, leading to the number 4 and 6 trains. Is it music or a whole lotta noise?
Tim Tebow has only been in the league for three years and has already played for two different teams, the Denver Broncos which he was originally drafted and most recently the horrible experience in New York with the Jets. Now though after being rejected by the Jacksonville Jaguars, the entire Canadian Football League, and even the Arena Football League, he has been signed by the powerhouse New England Patriots for and undisclosed length and money.
If Bill Belichick can’t find a use for Tebow I’ll be shocked
While I am not a Tim Tebow fan I am very happy for him to have been signed to a team. Tebow has the heart and desire to compete that most stars lack on top of that he has the work ethic to match that of any superstar. I’m glad he’s finally on a team that can utilize his skills that he will bring, especially since he is now working again with ex Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels once again in New England. Most importantly the media circus that has followed Tebow around his rather short career will be silenced in New England as all media circus’s have been before. I wish Tim Tebow the best of luck and most of all I am happy he may finally have a chance to play the game he so desperately wants to.
New Yorkers were amazed as the wonders of mother nature and the manmade concrete jungle came together in perfect unison yesterday to form something marvelous.
Mark Sanchez is owed $8.25 million next season after having a miserable 2012-13 season
Let me just say, I’m not sure if drafting Geno Smith was a wise move or just a move to create publicity. The Jets current roster has Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, Geno Smith, David Garrard, Greg McElroy, and Matt Simms all for the position of quarterback; That list is just down right ridiculous. While guys like McElroy and Simms are not big names nor important right now, the questions still circulate around Sanchez and Smith. Will the Jet’s release Sanchez, taking a $12.35 million cap hit this year and $4.8 million hit in 2014, or will they keep him and let him compete for a job that was once easily his? Will Garrad be the back up to Smith or will Garrad have the starting job?
Welcome Geno Smith, to the Jets media circus
Once again I’m going to do a favor to a professional sports teams front office, free of charge; it would be wise to release Mark Sanchez. Granted his 2012-2013 season was horrific, though it will be an immediate cap hit this season, it will push the Jets under cap for the 2014 season. Garrad is more than skilled enough to help Geno Smith grow, assuming he is the next franchise quarterback for the Jets. If they shall go on this releasing frenzy, also release Tebow and allow him to carve his own path in the NFL. Let Geno get comfortable playing for the Jets and let Rex Ryan reel in his defense again; perhaps one day soon we shall see the Jets again in an AFC championship game. Until that day comes, the Jets have quite a lot of work to do.
The brothers Tsarnaev had plans to drive to New York in their carjacked Mercedes and explode their remaining bombs last Thursday, but their plans went off track when the owner of the car they stole made an escape, the New York City mayor said Thursday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the information came to the attention of investigators during the interrogation of 19-year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who had at first said the plan was to go to New York to “party” but then changed his story in an interview 24 hours later. At that time Tsarnaev allegedly acknowledged that he and his brother planned a follow-up attack. The brothers had six unexploded devices with them as they tried to flee, Boston Police sources said.
“We were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that NYC was next on the list of targets he told the FBI apparently that he and his brother had planned to drive to NY and detonate additional explosives in Time Square, they had built these additional explosives and we know they had the capacity to carry out the attacks,” Bloomberg said at a press conference Thursday.
“The fact is NYC remains a prime target for those who hate America and want to kill Americans the attacks in boston and the news that NYC was next on the list shows just how critical it is for the federal government to devote high risk areas,” he said.
Bloomberg and New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the brothers had a pressure cooker bomb similar to those detonating during the attacks on the Boston Marathon, as well as five pipe bombs.
Law enforcement officials also tell ABC News they are preparing to move the accused Boston Marathon bomber from his hospital room to a secured medical facility in one of the region’s prisons, sources tell ABC News.
h/t – ABC
A man fell onto the subway tracks in Times Square this morning and was electrocuted by the third rail, authorities said.
The fire department first received a call of a person on the northbound 2 and 3 train tracks at 6:55 a.m. at the 7th Avenue and 42nd Street station. A second caller reported that the man had been electrocuted.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, the FDNY said.
Two and 3 express trains will be running on the local track between 14th Street and 72nd Street, the MTA said.
The details surrounding the incident were not immediately known.